A Hero's Legacy
by IadoreAMOUR
Summary: THIS STORY IS GOING THROUGH COMPLETE REWRITE . (I apologize for the lack of updates but there will be regular updates from the point on.) Join Ash in his Kalos journey in which he is much stronger, smarter and weilds AURA. What will he do when he finds out that the world he cherished was a big lie? Various shippings but Amourshipping primarily.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer_ : I DO NOT OWN ... I am too darn Poor :'(**

 ** _A/N_ : Rewritten on June 14, 2017**

 _ **Chapter One : A fierce Rivalry**_

"Electivire, Electro punch.. give it all you got" It was one of the rare times when the purple haired trainer actually showed some annoyance behind his voice. As he stayed stoic for the most of the time.

"'Electa…'" Electivire begins to dash forward with his fist sparkling golden yellow with electricity.

"Alright Infernape, lets show them your real strength, flare blitz! " This time it was the Raven haired trainer. Who like always, was totally involved in the battle. To his regret, he couldn't fight alongside his Pokemon. Because if he did he was certain that he would be disqualified immediately. And it was moments like these that made it incredibly hard for him not to just throw the caution out of the window.

The fire monkey Pokemon quickly jumped into the sky and begin to close in towards Electivire, now engulfed in blazing flames ; Infernape met with electivire's electro punch head on.

As the attacks collided, creating a small cloud of dust due to the force they were generating, both the pokemon struggled neither of them willing to give in an inch, fighting to get the upper hand.

"There is no way you're gonna lose to that weakling, show them their place." Paul said coldly but his eyes seemed to betray his disinterest that his voice displayed. One could clearly see some uncertainty in them.

Hearing his trainer's command Electivire reached out to the final wave of his energy reserves and focused it all into that punch, willing to give it all it would take for him to win this; even if it means that he won't to able to even stand after that.

"Infernape!" Ash exclaimed startled, watching as the electric type now overpowering his opponent as the fire type monkey started to tremble under the pressure, the punch was generating. It was at that moment that Ash saw a fleeting look of resignation on the face of his partner. It was as if like he had accepted that he couldn't quite deliver the cut. It was the same look of doubt that he once carried. It was that moment that the gravity of situation hit him. He then realized what it would mean for Infernape to lose this one. He wouldn't just lose the fight, but he would lose the self esteem that he had worked so hard to develop.

'We couldn't lose. I will not let him lose. Not to him. Not after everything we've been through.' Ash's brain was now working at a mile per minute. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't think of anything he could do for his partner. There was no way out of this one. Realizing that he was starting to panic, he closed his eyes and took a deep sigh of resignation. He would just have to do what it helped him to reach up to this point.

'No I have to believe in him'. He would let his Pokemon know that he had and always will have faith in them.

"Infernape I believe in you buddy, you are not a weakling and it's about time we prove that to the world, now, at this very moment. Just remember, you're not alone in this! ; infact you're never alone ! I am always with you." Ash yelled with so much determination that if anybody would've looked into his eyes at that moment, then they would see that they were shining as if they were aflame.

(…) Those word echoed in the stadium. The message was loud and clear. Except for the cackling of the electricity Electivire was producing, not a single voice could be heard. It was as if the whole stadium had frozen, the temperature itself seemed to have dropped a few degrees. And then it came, a mighty roar from Infernape. Infernape's eyeballs contracted suddenly, something inside of him snapped at hearing those words.

"'In…feeer…naaapee'" He roared and the flames engulfing him rose to a level that nobody has ever seen. It was as if they had been multiplied ten times to what was the initial.

* * *

Up In the stand, people were cheering for both the pokemon and among them could be seen our rest of the heroes, Dawn with her Piplup, Brock and Barry rooting for Ash with all they had got. The roar had been so devastating and frightening that Piplup had jumped into Dawn's lap from the railing, cuddling himself closer to his trainer.

"Brock what's going on there? How come the flames surrounding Infernape just got bigger?"

Dawn asked shielding her face from the wave of heat radiating from the arena. It could be felt all the way into the stands, the crazy amount of power the fire type was generating. Brock held a stupefied look on his face, he himself couldn't believe what he was feeling right now. Shielding his face not unlike Dawn he started, "I have never seen anything like this before myself, the power that Infernape's eyes are radiating is incredible as well as frightening at the same time." He paused for a moment and then continued, "maybe it's just because of everything he's been through. He just want to prove to Paul that he did not deserved to be released. And probably he does not want to let Ash down after everything he's done for him." While he had said that, on the inside, he himself was trying to grasp what he had just witnessed. 'How can mere words lead to something like this.'

Dawn just nodded slowly, still flinching because of the heat 'it all made sense' she thought before averting her eyes again towards the battle field. Seeing the determined look that he held, she clasped her hands as if she was praying while looking at "him" with concern in her eyes. She has had a crush over him, from the very first day they had met. And the one thing which she admired the most was his passion; towards the battles that he fought and his Pokemon and she knew how much this particular match up meant to his Infernape, thus him. She knew that it wasn't about the league anymore. Both the trainers were now fighting for what they stood for. They were fighting to prove their believes, their way of Pokemon.

'Oh please Arceus… Let Ash win this please. He needs to win this more than anything'

"Ash…." She mumbled under her breath. It wasn't more than just a whisper but even with all the commotion, Brock seemed to notice the emotions behind it.

"MMMmmmmmm you can do it infernape! Finally failing to retrain her emotions, she yelled the hardest she could to make sure that he had heard her.  
"Pi-PipluP!' Piplup too cheered for his friends to do their best while he still kept to his place in his trainer's lap.

* * *

(BOOM) There was a deafening explosion, following which a thick blanket of smoke covered the whole arena. Making it impossible for anyone to see beyond and the conclusion of the battle. As it was obvious to all that standing after a explosion like that won't be possible. But they all wondered if it would end up in a draw and soon, murmurings could be heard about the possible outcome.

"Infernape" Ash yelled fearing the worst while trying to see through the smoke but couldn't get even a glimpse. After waiting for about a minute with baited breath, his eyes caught something. It wasn't clear but he could see flames shining brightly and he was relieved to see that his Pokemon was alright.

As the smoke died, there could be heard a sound mixed with 'awe's' and gasps from the whole stadium. There was only a crater left for what had been the arena and on both the sides of the crater stood both the Pokemon. Panting harshly... but still standing.

"Infernape hang in there buddy! " Ash yelled as he saw Infernape dropping to one knee. It was pretty obvious to him that he won't be able to fight after this. Infernape's body was shaking with the amount of power it was taking to just to stand and he himself was aware of the fact that he was working on the fumes only.

While on the other side of the arena, stood Paul jaw dropped, with literal disbelief in his eyes. He couldn't believe Infernape could be that strong. The same Infernape that he had branded weak and useless, the same Infernape that he had left alone so that he won't bother him.

While Paul was busy contemplating about what he had just witnessed, Ash looked in concern 'awe man what I'm going to do now, we gave everything we had to that shot' There was no way that Infernape could continue now so there was only one way to go. Thinking about losing after all this, a grim look appeared on his face.  
Seemingly breaking out of his stupor, Paul noticed the look on Ash's face but after taking one look at his Pokemon, he closed his eyes and muttered "It's over". And the next moment Electivire was on the ground, down and out.

There was pin drop silence among the audience, as they couldn't get over the fact that the match was finally over. Until... " **Electivire is unable to battle, the winner of the battle is Infernape and thus the match goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town"** declared the referee lifting the flag.

There was a moment of silence in the crowd after the official announcement and then all hell broke in. The whole stadium erupted, cheering for Ash and his Infernape. Showing exactly just what they thought of the match. Among all those sounds our heroes could also be seen cheering for their friends.  
"He did it!" exclaimed Dawn, Brock and Barry in unison. Now standing on their seats and applauding for the raven haired trainer.

" **And there it is folks; after a hard fought battle Electivire gave in to Infernape and with this Ash Ketchum now moves on to the semi-final round of the tournament."** The announcer announced, not even trying to hide the excitement from his voice.

In the arena Infernape released the breath that he wasn't even aware that he was holding. He had done it. He had proved to his old master that he wasn't some bother and he did it in front of the whole world. As the adrenaline left his body, he realized just how exhausted he actually was. He couldn't take it any more and was about to fall face first into the ground before he was grabbed by two arms. He lifted his head to see the beaming face of his trainer. "We did it" was all his trainer said before his trainer embraced him in a tight hug.  
'"Infernape!'" He affirmed tiredly before both of them were tackled to the ground by a very enthused Pikachu.  
"'Pi Pikachu!'"  
Ash was laughing now laughing whole heartedly, "WE DID IT guys we actually beat defeated Paul!" Receiving two simultaneous affirmations from the two Pokemon.  
Finally getting over the excitement, Ash looked across the arena to see that Paul had recalled Electivire and had already started to leave.

* * *

Up in the VIP box, a small smile could be seen on the face of a certain blonde woman, the Champion of The Sinnoh Region, Cynthia Shirona. Her grey eyes contained a shine as she watched the raven haired trainer embracing his Pokemon, all the while laughing joyously.

"I knew you would win" she admitted with just above a whisper.

* * *

The next hour went in a blur as it all happened quite quickly. After relishing the feeling for a few minutes, Ash finally made his way out of the arena to meet up with his friends and they all had congratulated him for his victory. Much to his surprise and confusion, he even got an excited quick hug from Dawn, but he concluded that it was just because she was very excited for his victory.

After that Ash had quickly made his way towards the medics so that he could heal his Pokemon. As they waited at the Pokemon Centre for Ash to recover his Pokeballs, they heard an announcement.  
"So after a hard fought victory over Paul, Ash Ketchum reaches to the semi-finals of the tournament, where he will be up against the mysterious trainer Tobias. Will he be able to bring up a decent challenge to the guy who seems to be unbeatable or maybe even defeat him?"

Suddenly the small smile Ash had been wearing turned into frown. That Tobias guy had a Darkrai with him and had literally destroyed all his previous opponents just using his Darkrai. People don't even know about his other Pokemon, as he hadn't simply required their help. Not even once. Just how was he supposed to defeat a guy like that.

At the dining table everyone was excited for Ash's victory and wouldn't stop praising him. But on the other hand Ash didn't say anything for the whole time, not even asking for the seconds! Everyone seemed to notice but they couldn't place any reason for him being down. Dawn decided to ask him later what was all that about.

After having the dinner, they all went to their rooms for some much needed rest after the tiring day... exciting... but tiring.  
But Ash couldn't rest let alone sleep. He couldn't help but wonder what was he going to do tomorrow. Lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, he tried to think of some strategy that would help him defeat the legendary trainer. He kept thinking and thinking but nothing came to him. Getting frustrated after a while, he thought that he might as well take a troll to clear his head. He got up his bed carefully, not to wake anybody up and went over to the balcony.

He looked up into the sky to watch the stars. He considered stars to be really beautiful as well as a great source of encouragement. According to him stars gives a man an Idea about the heights that he could achieve. For the better part of his life, whenever he felt depressed or shaken he used to just stare at them, (that was one of the reasons of why is liked to camp outside so much). But tonight it wasn't really helping.

Pikachu realised that Ash wasn't in his bed and tried to look for him and then he saw him standing in the balcony and rushed to him and jumped onto his right shoulder and started nuzzling him. Ash smiled at the affectionate display and petted Pikachu behind his ears earning himself a squeal of 'Chaaaa' as appreciation towards his action already making him feel better.

"You did great out there today, buddy.., now you should go to sleep" he said smiling softly at him and laid him into his bed. Pikachu stretched trying to make himself comfortable before looking at his trainer expectantly to join him. But when he realized that he wasn't joining him, in fact he was heading towards the door, Pikachu got off the bed and followed him.

"I want to be alone for a while Pikachu" he said placing his cap over his messy locks while his cap doing a pretty good job at covering his eyes as he took a step towards the door.

'Pikaaa' his ears dropped as he asked in a voice full of concern.

"Hey no need to worry Pikachu, I just want some fresh air" he said and when Pikachu tried to follow him he gave him a cold glare and motioned over to bed. Pikachu was now worried, he had never seen his best friend behaving like this. But obliged his command fearing to be yelled at. After convincing or rather ordering Pikachu to leave him alone Ash started making his way towards the exit of the Centre.

Ash got out of the pokemon centre where he got an odd stare from Nurse Joy, seemingly wondering what was he doing outside at that time of the day. But he gave her a slight reassuring smile which she returned. After roaming across the garden that was just in front of the Centre for a while, he finally sat on a bench under a tree. His head still down as he just stared his shoes and his cap still covering most of his face.

"Mind if I join you?"

* * *

 ** _Author's review_ : **So this is it folks... there goes my first chapter. I thought there could not be a better beginning than Ash vs Paul. I apologize for finishing of with a cliff hanger :P but i promise it is going to be worth it. Next chapter will contain shipping... so cheer up shippers I got something for you xD And yeah its my first story so suggestions are appreciated. Next chapter would be out by friday hopefully.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer:**_ **I do not own Pokémon... but I wish I did xD**

 ** _A/N_ : Rewritten on June 15, 2017.  
Oh My God, I seriously couldn't believe how much mistakes the original chapter had. I really had to work hard to make it a little bit better. Hope you guys like it.**

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two: Shaken Hop**_ _ **e**_

"Mind if I join you?" Ash heard a familiar voice and turned his head to see the champion herself standing behind him.

Anybody else would've been startled by her presence, but to him she was just another friend.

"Cynthia" Ash said under his breath.

"What are you doing here" he said now looking back to his feet.

"Just out for some fresh air" She said with a faint smile on her face.  
She could sense that something was wrong. First there was no Pikachu with him and second his voice was very low and lacked the usual energy it possessed.

"But the point is, what are you doing here?" she said with somehow curious tone. When she got no answer she continued, "Shouldn't you be resting right now for your match tomorrow?"

"I just wanted some lone time" he said while his head still bowed down.

"Something troubling you Ash?" She asked, her voice doing nothing to hide the concern she held.

(…) He just kept his head down. Now Cynthia was a very patient person. It wasn't like her to get upset quickly but after waiting for a few minutes and still not receiving an answer, it was just too much.

"Ash Ketchum… I know that you might not see me as a friend but still, at least you should answer the questions asked by a champion unless you do not respect them" She started softly, her voice clearly containing some disappointment but by the end of it, the seemingly disappointment changed into anger.

(…) He just stayed silent. He didn't even flinch to show that he had even registered her words.

Now more irritated than hurt, Cynthia opened her mouth to say something when Ash finally spoke up.

"I am scared Cynthia" he finally confessed, now looking straight towards the open field. His eyes were clearly not concentrating on anything particular just like his voice.

Now, even if there were situations when gave in to her irritation. There were only a few times when she could honestly say that she was caught off guard and this was definitely one of those times. She was shocked; she had never expected this to come from him. Anybody but him. After gawking disbelievingly at him for a few minutes, she finally settled her mind down and tried to make an eye contact but he used his cap to cover them. Now having blown past her limit and completely irritated, she snatched his cap before continuing.

"Scared of what exactly?" she tried to keep her face and voice as straight as possible but there was still a hint of disbelief on both.

And then, he met her eyes with his own. She could see the emotions urging to flow out. His eyes contained a mix of emotions. A mix of sadness and defeat. These emotions seemed to be alien in his eyes as he had never shown any glimpse of them up until this point, ever. He then averted his gaze to look at the moon, clearly not comfortable with the whole conversation.

"I am scared to battle out there tomorrow. I am scared to face 'him'" he said while almost tearing up at the end of the sentence.

Then she got what the whole situation was all about and for the first time in her time till she'd met him, she felt sorry for him. She knew who he was going to face tomorrow. Anybody would feel the way he was, if they were in his shoes. But still she hadn't expected him to do it. She had always taken him as a guy who would meet his challenges head on. Finally after contemplating for a few moments, she figured out what he needed. She now knew that he had lost the never dying 'hope' that he possessed and she wasn't just going to let it be like that if she had a say in it. She sighed deeply and then returned him his cap while trying to find the right way she should proceed and then took the place on the bench beside him.

"Ash I never thought I would ever hear you saying these words." She said in a soothing voice, trying her best to comfort him. "And besides… there is nothing bad about losing. You better than anyone know winning or losing doesn't matter." She looked at him trying to gauge his reaction to figure out if she was helping.

But to her surprised, Ash let out a humourless chuckle to that.

"There is no point to that Cynthia. I know that man is a 'monster' and there is no way I am going to defeat him tomorrow. He said without showing any hint of emotion. Cynthia stood up, stunned from his word but before she could retort, Ash continued "I should very well give up the match and not show up tomorrow" he paused for a moment before continuing "This way, at least I won't get my friends hurt". He said in a shaking voice.

Cynthia has had enough. She couldn't believe that this was the same trainer who she had known. The same person who used to meet any difficulties head on, from what she knew about him. She had even concluded that he would make it to the Champion's league someday to face her and now he'd said he should give up. In her moment of rage she did something brash.

She slapped Ash right across the face, leaving 'fingerprints' on his cheek. Ash never anticipated that one coming and was caught off guard, as he fell off the bench. Blinking for a few moments while sub consciously bringing his hands over the now red cheek, he gritted his teeth and yelled at her.

"What the hell was that for and who the hell do you think you are to slap me!" With anger and frustration leaking from his voice.

"That's it, I've heard enough of your mourning, who the hell do you think you are to do this with your Pokémon, 'your so called friends' and yourself." Ash now took a step backward, scared of her outrage as she continued.

"You have no right to give up now after everything you've done and after everything your Pokémon have done to be here. You couldn't just walk away on them."

She paused for a moment and averted her gaze to now look away from him, "And if you are that weak, that you could not stand up against a trainer just because he is stronger than you…. Then you should very well give up on your dream to become a Pokémon master. At least that way you won't fool your Pokémon." She said coldly now glaring daggers right at him as if challenging him to say something.

Seeing him flinch brought her out of her sudden moment of outrage. Then she stopped and realised that she had yelled at him. She looked into his eyes which now contained some unshed tears and she cursed herself for that. She hadn't meant to say something like that. She just couldn't hold herself and now she was dearly regretting her actions.

Then silence took over the whole place for few moments. Cynthia just stared into his eyes waiting to see his reaction toward her words and she could've sworn that she saw some regret and shame in them.

Ash realised that she was right. It wasn't just about him. It was about all his Pokémon and all his friends, who helped him get there. It was about all the trainers he defeated to get there. And the moment he realised it, he felt acute shame of himself. He had never loathed himself for anything but right now, he couldn't even believe it was actually him that had thought something like giving up.

"How could I do this?" he thought to himself.  
"How could I be so selfish?" He cursed himself mentally before averting his gaze to stare his feet again. But this time it was because of shame. He didn't have the courage to make an eye contact with her.

After a brief moment of silence, he sighed, "You are right Cynthia." He said while raising his gaze to meet her and she could see that now his face had a small nervous smile on it.

"I was just being selfish" he continued.

"I forgot about my Pokémon…. They deserve a shot on him after doing everything to be here. I couldn't just give up"; he said while standing up from his seat.

Seeing his rebuilding resolve, she sighed in relief. She gave him a warm reassuring smile before commenting, "Besides Ash, I think that you are selling yourself short. I believe that if anyone could defeat Tobias, that's you… beside me of course" she finished with a slight smirk.

Ash chuckled himself to that. "I guess you are right." He looked straight at her with an apologetic expression on his face.

"Um uh… I… I'm sorry Cynthia" He started while shuffling his feet nervously.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me like that." He said after pausing for a bit. "And thank you very much….. I think am ready for tomorrow now" he said with a resolute look on his face.

"Oh you better be Ash Ketchum, because my money would be on you." She winked playfully at the end of her sentence.

Ash was pleased to know that a champion thought so high of him. He showed his gratitude by giving her a small smile and nod of his head.

"I guess you better go and get some sleep now"

"Yeah you're right. Thanks a lot Cynthia". She just gave him a genuine smile before starting to leave for her hotel.

"Good night Ash Ketchum"

"G 'night Cynthia"

* * *

Ash then headed for his own room. His mind still trying to process all that it could about the conversation he just had. But he was brought out of his stupor as the moment he opened the door, he saw Dawn and Brock glaring at him intensely. He gulped unconsciously, while taking a step back.

Seeing that he was back, Dawn was the first one to speak her mind, "Ash Ketchum where do you think you were at this time without any of us knowing." She scolded.

"Thanks Pikachu" he said as he delivered him a death glare.

"Ash could we know what were you doing outside 'alone' at this time?" Brock added patiently, showing that at least one of them was trying to see his reason.

"Ummm" was all he could say while a big drop of sweat formed on his head.

It was then that Dawn noticed the 'fingerprints' that remained on his cheek.

"Ash what in the name of Arceus happened to your cheek?" She enquired as concern took over the anger in her voice. As she tried to reach for his cheek but stopped seeing him flinch.

"Don't worry Dawn, it's nothing really." Ash said, trying to avoid the subject as he covered his cheek with his hand while chuckling nervously.

"That's when I worry the most!" She scolded "now tell me what happened"

Ash sighed. 'This isn't going to be easy' he thought and tried to wonder what would be their reaction to know that he was slapped by Cynthia of all people.

"Ummm"

"Ash!"

"I was slapped" he almost shouted with his eyes closed.

"Whaaaat?" Dawn's eyes widened. "And who slapped you Ash" Brock added.

"Ummmm….."

"Aashhhh…" They both leaned onto him with their hand on their hips and their eyes boring straight through his skull.

Ash sighed to that and mumbled "Cynthia" under his breath.

"Whaaaaat" They both said in unison again. The drop of sweat increased in size as Ash let out a nervous chuckle to that. Dawn gathered herself from the shock and couldn't help but feel anxious about the situation that could've led to the champion slapping her friend.

"And what did you do to deserve a slap from her? Don't tell me that you asked the champion out." She joked with a chuckle before she couldn't hold it any longer and broke into full laughing.

"Haa haa very funny Dawn." Ash rolled his eyes whiles mocking her in a sarcastic tone.

After calming Dawn down, he explained them what had happened in detail. They were both speechless to know the actual reason behind 'the slap'. After a moment of silence Dawn added,

"This explains why she slapped you. Well you are lucky Ash Ketchum because if I were her then, believe me when I say that slaps wouldn't even be included in the starters." She said in a frightening tone.

Ash tried to imagine for a second what would it be like if she would have been in Cynthia's place? And believe me when I say that the idea itself wasn't pretty. Ash let out a nervous chuckle, while rubbing the back of his neck, before saying "Yeah I know". Dawn just smiled to that. She just couldn't stay angry at him.

"Hmmmm… Well this was rather interesting but still, you better go to bed now Ash" Brock said with a smile of his own.

"Yeah I'm beat."

Ash wished everyone good night and went to his bed.

"Ash"

"Yeah Dawn?"

He looked at her bed and caught her looking at him with a warm smile on her face. "Don't worry you will do great and remember we are always with you…. I am always with you…" she almost whispered the last part.

Ash couldn't help but smile to that. "Thanks Dawn" he paused before continuing "You couldn't know how much that means to me"

Dawn could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks and was thankful that the room was dark. 'Did he mean that I mean a lot to him' she couldn't help but wonder.

"Good night Dawn" Ash said with now his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

"hmmmmm" she said with a smile of her own.

* * *

Ash woke up early next morning. Seeing that everybody else was still sleeping, he thought that it would be better not to wake them up. He quietly brushed his teeth and changed into his attire and left the room with all his Poke balls and Pikachu. In the hall he wished Nurse Joy morning, which she returned while smiling warmly. She was slightly confused though. 'Was this the same boy from last night?' Rather he was, but he seemed completely different. He seemed to be very focused and confident comparing to the last time she saw him.

Once he was outside, he called all his Pokémon out.

"Hey guys what about some warm up before we reach to the finals" Ash said while raising his fist to show his excitement. Pikachu was pleased to see him like this but couldn't help but wonder what the deal about his behaviour was last night. As he jumped off his shoulder. He stared right into his eyes which Ash noticed and kneeled down to his level.

"Hey don't worry buddy. I am fine now and sorry for the last night." Ash said while petting him behind his ears.

"Pi… pikaa pi pika..chuu" Pikachu said as he nuzzled his palm.

"Thank you Pikachu" Ash said with a huge smile on his face.

After that Ash stood up and dashed a few feet's before looking back and saying "Race ya?" while jogging on the spot.

All of his Pokémon yelled their name in affirming tone and began to sprint towards him. Pikachu on the other hand was complaining about the head start.

After 15 minutes of running they all stopped at the entrance of the stadium.

"H… hey huff- thh- that was n… no fair Pikachu"

"You cannot use quick attack in races" Ash complained while trying to catch his breath.

Pikachu on the other hand stood proud on his head while giggling a bit before breaking into laughing effectively dropping from his place to ground. This annoyed Ash and he decided to have some fun of his own.

"Oh…. Pikaaaacchhuuu…." He said in a sing-song manner with both his hands behind his back and a devilish smirk on his face.

"Pika?" Pikachu gave a confused expression by tilting his head. As he stood there Ash pulled his arms forward, now revealing a pokeball.

"Pikaaaa?" Pikachu's eye widened in shock. 'He is bluffing. He wouldn't do that to me' he tried to reassure himself but he was proven wrong when Ash tapped the button and a red beam of light came straight towards him.

He somehow managed to dodge it, now panicking, he began to run away from him towards the bushes. After he calmed down, he looked behind to see that Ash was on the ground literally rolling on the floor while laughing.

"Got yaaa!" Was all he could say before a yellow bolt of electricity hit him. Yet it didn't seem to bother him as he continued to laugh heartedly.

"Looks like you're feeling better" came a voice that he was all too familiar with.

"Good morning Cynthia" he said while turning to her with a smile on his face.

"Good morning Ash" she said with a smile of her own before continuing. "Looks like you are ready to go" She said while giving him an appraising look.

"You bet I am" Ash said while raising his fist in excitement.

She chuckled and added "yeah you seem ready"

Ash approached her and looked directly into her eyes before saying, "Thanks a lot Cynthia. You really helped me out yesterday. And now to repay you I will bring Tobias down and after I do that I will win the tournament and challenge you" He said with so much confidence that she had to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm looking forward for that" She said with a chuckle.

"Well… all the best for it" She stretched her arm forward which Ash took without any hesitation and shaking it slightly.

"Thanks" he said before breaking the handshake. She seemed to stare at him for a few moments as if contemplating something, before saying her next words.

"Well Ash I actually came here to talk to you" Ash looked her slightly confused, raising an eyebrow as if prompting her to continue.

"Well you see… I have a proposition for you." This confused him even more.

"Proposition? What kind of proposition?"

"hmmmmm" she looked as if she was thinking really hard for a minute and the way she crossed her arms and furrowed her brows made her look really cute. Wait cute? But before he could think any more about it, she continued.

"I'll tell you after your match about it" she paused a bit before continuing, "For now, you just concentrate over your match".

"Sound's fair" he agreed while nodding.

She gave him a slight nod herself before continuing, "How about we meet where we met last light, same place same time?"

"Fine with me"

"Hmmm good, now that it's decided. I should leave. Good luck again Ash and see you later."

Ash waved her good bye and when she was gone, he turned to his Pokémon who were now playing on their own.

"I wonder what proposal she has for me" he muttered. 'Never mind I've got a match to win' he thought as he recalled his Pokémon to their poke balls.

Then he turned to Pikachu and said; "Say Pikachu how about another race…. This time no head starts and no quick attack?" He said with a challenging smirk on his face.

Pikachu had a smirk of his own as he took the stance next to him.

"Pika" He said confidently. To which Ash's smirk changed into a full blown grin.

"Ready?"

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ **:** So guys there goes my second chapter. Thanks for your reviews and now that I think about it... I guess you guys are right XP but I really thought that it was Electrovire. XD But apologies for that any ways... B.t.w., thanks for the suggestion of Bulbapedia.. It's surely gonna help a lot. The next chapter gonna have Ash vs Tobias and don't forget... the proposition xD It will be out maybe by Tuesday.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter**_ _ **: 3 "A defeat and a proposal"**_

 ** _A/N : Rewritten on June 15, 2017_**

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _ **: I do not Pokémon. AND I NEVER WILL -_-**_

"It's all up to you now buddy." Ash said as the little electric type Pokémon jumped forward with his cheeks sending light electric sparks.

It had all come down to this, Pikachu was his last Pokémon. Now that he thinks about it, the whole contest turned out to be fading in his memory.

* * *

 **FLASHBACK:**

Ash is at the field, facing his opponent, Tobias at Semi-Finals and as expected, Tobias sends his ace, Darkrai. Ash sends Heracross, who starts with Hyper Beam, but collides with Ice Beam. Heracross uses Horn Attack, but using Dark Void, Darkrai puts Heracross to sleep. However, Heracross' Sleep Talk causes him to use Horn Attack while asleep, making an impact on Darkrai. Unsuspected, Darkrai uses Dream Eater to defeat Heracross in sleep.

Ash calls Heracross back and sends Torkoal. Torkoal uses Flamethrower, but Darkrai uses Dark Pulse and cancels the move, causing Torkoal to be defeated immediately. Ash calls him back and sends Gible. Darkrai comes close, though Gible's Rock Smash pushes him away. Darkrai retaliates with Ice Beam, but Gible dodges. Gible uses Draco Meteor, but Darkrai evades the attack and uses Dark Pulse to defeat him. Ash calls Gible back. Tobias admits that any Pokémon attacked by Draco Meteor would be defeated, except his Darkrai. Ash sends Sceptile to battle.

Darkrai uses Ice Beam, but Sceptile uses Quick Attack and moves away. Darkrai dodged and attacks with Ice Beam. Darkrai uses Dark Void, putting Sceptile to sleep. Darkrai uses Dream Eater and affects Sceptile, but hearing Ash to wake up, Sceptile is awake. Using Leaf Blade, Sceptile immediately defeats Darkrai. Tobias calls Darkrai back and admits Ash has proven himself in the spot of the Semi-Final. Tobias is somewhat surprised, but sends his Latios, who swoops down. Sceptile uses Leaf Blade, but gets defeated by Giga Impact. Ash calls Scpetile back and sends Swellow. Swellow starts with Quick Attack, but Latios dodges. Swellow dives down and uses Aerial Ace, but gets defeated by Luster Purge. Ash calls her back and sends his Pikachu, knowing in mind they will not give up.

* * *

"Your fighting has earned respect Ash, but this is the final battle" Tobias told him sound really impressed.

Ash clenched his fists as he knew that he had lost but he knew Pikachu isn't defeated yet.

"Pikachu let's start with Quick Attack" Ash commanded while throwing his fist forward.

"Pikaa…." Pikachu immediately dashed forward with such a speed that he had become hard to follow but he missed as Latios just dodged at the last moment. Pikachu couldn't believe it and used Volt Tackle using the quick attack to boost his speed, but he was countered by Giga Impact.

"Pikachu" Ash mumbled as he just stood there. He didn't give him any command because Pikachu already seemed to know what he had to do. He just stood there to reassure him that he was with him. He knew this buddy had defeated an awful amount of Pokemon consisting even some legendary's but this was going to be the toughest battle that he had faced. Though he had complete faith that he had this particular fight in the bag.

While on the field, Latios used Giga Impact. It wasn't really surprising for Ash to see that Tobias wasn't giving any commands either.

Latios went to finish using Luster Purge but to Ash's relief he missed. Pikachu had jumped on his back and was trying to hold the position. Latios tried his best to shake him off but Pikachu hanged on.

"Alright Pikachu… give it your very best" Ash said under his breath to see that Pikachu had used Thunderbolt while being on his back to electrocute it. Latios attempts to get him off, but fails and gets hit by another Thunderbolt.

"Latios use lightscreen" Finally realizing that he needed to help his Pokemon, Tobias ordered which Latios obliged. He used LightScreen, causing Pikachu's Thunderbolt to do less damage.

Pikachu wasn't going to give up, as he used Thunderbolt even more. Latios went up in the sky where he shook him off and got Pikachu in air. Latios used Luster Purge, trying to finish it all. Pikachu knew that he wouldn't be able to withstand that decided to give this shot his all.

"Pikaaa chuu" He yelled his name as he was engulfed in pure electricity. Pikachu used Volt Tackle from the position, using height as his advantage to gain momentum.

Though he had sustained damage but Pikachu used Iron Tail while still being engulfed in electricity with bolt tackle giving him extra momentum and makes a collision.

As the attacks met. Smoke filled the entire arena and when it cleared Latios was down and out, while Pikachu on the other hand, was struggling to keep standing.

The whole stadium was silent, seemingly mesmerized by the skills and raw power both the Pokemon had displayed while some were trying to grasp the fact that a little Pokemon like Pikachu was able to defeat a legendary. There was a huge cheer from the crowd as they were mesmerized by the strength of the little mouse Pokémon. The cheers were so loud that Ash had to cover his ears.

" **Latios is unable to battle, which means the winner is Pikachu"** The referee declared while raising a flag.

Tobias just stood there with his eyes, wide open. He still couldn't believe that his Latios was defeated by a Pikachu. Just how powerful was that little devil? After taking deep breaths to calm himself, he contained himself and called him back, before smirking.

While on the other hand, Ash wasn't surprised at all, he knew Pikachu would do it but to see it happening before his very eyes was something else. He was too proud of Pikachu right now. Who could've thought that he was the same annoying Pikachu that had shocked him when they'd met for the first time. He looked toward the other end of the arena to see that Tobias was smirking. He gave a proud smile himself.

The referee then turned to Tobias. " **Can we have your next Pokémon**?"

Tobias reached into his clock and began to pull out a Pokéball, when he was interrupted.

"There's no need of that, Pikachu forfeit" It was Ash, who had jumped into the battle field and was now approaching towards the weakened electric type.

"Pikaa.." Pikachu tried to oppose him but due to the weakness his voice just came out as a whisper as he collapsed to the ground. Ash reached him and grabbed him in his arm while giving the referee a nod.

" **Alright then** " the referee said while raising a flag, " **The green trainer has forfeited his Pikachu and thus the match goes to Tobias"** The whole stadium went silent. They had never seen anything like this, a trainer forfeiting a semi-final match. They were all too shocked to respond. The stadium remained silent for a few more seconds till the sound of individual clapping was heard. It was Cynthia, she was on her feet as she clapped while staring at the raven haired trainer, who was standing with his weakened Pikachu in his arms. It seemed to be just the thing that the crowd needed, as now everyone joined her in her actions and soon the sound of clapping could be heard from all over.

* * *

When the match was over Ash came out of the arena to the trainer's room, where he came to know that Brock and Dawn were already present and were waiting for him to show up.

He approached them with his head hung down and his cap covering his eyes. When he made it to them, he rose his head slightly to see that they both were smiling… in fact Dawn had a huge grin on her face.

He was shocked. He had not expected them to be like that. In fact he had thought that they would have sympathetic looks on their faces or maybe act brave to comfort him.

"Ash" Dawn was the first to speak as she tried to look into his eyes. She knew how much winning this meant to him and knew that he would be really upset. Besides who won't be… after being that close to reaching their dream? She had thought that he would carry tears in his eyes when he would raise his head but to their surprise, there weren't any. In their place he wore a faint smile and a sorry look on his face.

"I am sorry Dawn… Brock… I let you guys down…. Again" he added softly. He descended his gaze to now look at the fainted electric type he had in his arms. "No matter how much we try, we never make it through. I lost yet again." He finished with a deep sigh.

Both Dawn and Brock just stood silent for a few moments. They didn't looked sad nor showed and glimpse of sympathy in their eyes but their smiles faded.

Ash took the silence in the negative way and concluded that they were both super upset of him. His own smile fainted as it was replaced by a frown and he kept his head down.

"It's okay, if you guys don't want to talk to me. I know that you may feel ashamed of me" He muttered loud enough for both of them to hear.

'What's wrong with them… why are they just standing like that, it doesn't feel right…' Ash thought to himself but the silence was killing him from inside. He decided that he couldn't take it anymore and tried to leave. But he couldn't. He felt a hand on his shoulder and raised his head to see that it belonged to Dawn.

"We are proud of you Ash" she said ever so softly while smile never leaving her face.

"What?" he said with his eyes wide open.

"She said that we are proud to say that Ash Ketchum is our friend" Brock said in such a tone that it could have made anyone believe in him.

(…) Ash couldn't respond to that as his mind was still trying to process, what they had just said. He had anticipated many things. Deep down he knew that his friend's would never really be disappointed in him but to hear them say that they were proud of him? He just couldn't wrap his head over that. After a few moments of silence, he did respond.

"Bu… but I lost and not to mention I lost bad." While his voice shaking.

Dawn now went for his hand and placed her own over it. He looked straight at her in instincts.

"No Ash…..you didn't lose." Brock said with sense of pride leaking from his voice. Now Ash was totally confused. He was not able to comprehend his friend's behavior. They were both talking things that didn't made any sense. He didn't lose? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"What do you mean Brock?" Brock smiled to it and approached him closer.

"What I mean Ash, is that you didn't lose, at least not completely. Yeah you lost a match, that's true…. But you have won too."

"I won? What's that supposed to mean." Ash was now starting to get a little annoyed and his voice showed just that.

Brock chuckled to it and started to explain. "See Ash, there is more to battling than winning. You are just putting yourself down. I mean look at what you've achieved. How many trainers do you know, who have defeated a legendary and here you are who have defeated two." Brock tried to deliver in the most encouraging way he possibly could.

"Yeah… but it took me six Pokémon to do that." He said with a hint of shame in his voice while staring his feet.

Brock shook his head while sighing to that. "Oh… Ash, the other trainers also had six Pokémon with them but they weren't able to defeat even his Darkrai."

This made Ash feel a little better and he smiled to himself, which Brock noticed. Brock extended his hand and began to pet the exhausted electric rodent.

"You should be proud of Pikachu, who could've thought that someone as small as him would be able to defeat a Latios in a one on one competition."

Ash smiled genuinely on this one, now staring at the little rodent Pokémon with unparalleled affection. He already knew that Pikachu was strong but he too was impressed beyond himself to know that he was able to defeat a latios.

"I am Brock..." Ash said softly.

"I am very proud of all my Pokémon… every one of them" He said as he just stared at Pikachu lovingly.

"And yeah Brock… just for you guys to know…, I am not sad that I lost today." He paused a bit before continuing "though I cannot say that I am not disappointed over the defeat but I am more than happy with what my Pokémon did." He said proudly.

"I am really thankful to all of my Pokémon and yeah thank you very much Brock…. Dawn" he paused a bit to look dawn in her eyes "if it wouldn't be for you guys, I wouldn't even be here"

Dawn blushed a little when their eyes met, but he wasn't able to notice it as he was numb himself so she was able to shake it off.

'This is it, my time with Ash is about to be over. I need to let him know my feelings towards him. He deserves to know, how much I care about him' she thought to herself. 'Come on Dawn… you can do it.' She had practiced it over a million times but still, she wasn't able to find the courage. She breathed deeply to calm herself down. 'Well here goes nothing' she ensured her mind.

"Ummm Ash?" She said while staring at her feet and twirling her fingers.

"What is it Dawn?" he said averting his gaze to look directly towards her. She rose her head to look at him but it turned out to be a bad idea as their eyes met. Dawn's heart skipped a beat and she could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. And to make her situation even worse, he gave her his world famous smile.

'No no no calm down Dawn… you can do it' she tried to reassure herself and gathered all her courage and took a deep breath.

"Ash I wanted to tell you somethi…" She had to stop in between as she was interrupted.

"Ash!" came a familiar voice from behind and he turned to look at the person to which it belonged.

Dawn couldn't believe it. Somebody had to disturb them right now? Right in the moment which she'd always dreamed about. She had lost it, rage taking over her mind. 'He will have to pay for this' she thought while cursing the person mentally. But when she turned to see, who that voice belonged to… she was shocked.

She had never in her wildest dreams thought that it would be him.

"Tobias" Ash mumbled under his breath.

Ash just watched as he approached him with a smirk on his face. He thought that he would be here to taunt him and gloat over his victory over him. But what he did next shocked everyone.

He extended his hand towards Ash. Ash just couldn't believe it, so he just stood there stunned. After some awkward moments Ash caught it with his own. Tobias's smirk widened to this as he started.

"It was a great battle Ketchum. I still couldn't believe that you were actually able to defeat two of my strongest."

His gaze then turned to look at the fainted Pikachu which Ash was holding. Ash opened his mouth to thank him but was interrupted by him.

"You have an amazing power house right there." he praised him while containing a look of admiration on his face.

"Your Pokémon are something else. I have not had such a good battle in some time now" he looked directly towards him before continuing.

"Give me a promise Ash, you will get stronger and then when you are, let's battle again."

Ash couldn't help but smirk at that. He had never thought that he would be the one to say that words. They seemed to be all he needed and was now feeling fine as ever. It was just like that. All his doubts and insecurities... gone.

"You bet" Ash said confidently while meeting his gaze with his own challenging one.

"hmmmm" he gave him a slight nod.

"Well then I should leave to heal my Pokémon." Ash nodded to that himself.

Tobias took a few steps before stopping and turning to see him again, "Good luck for you future kid; as you got a real bright one."

Ash smiled to that and nodded with gratitude for the kind words and boost of confidence and with that Tobias left. Now that his mind was clear again, he remembered that Dawn had wanted to speak with him.

Ash now turned to look at Dawn before continuing, "You wanted to tell me something, Dawn?"

"Wh… what? Oh y… yeah" That caught her off guard and she jumped a bit in surprise.

"Well what is it?" Ash said as he delivered her a smile.

'Oh Arcues, please get me out of this." She pleaded mentally. She knew that she won't be able to confess him now. She felt her heart beating at such a pace that she thought it would just jump out of her mouth if she said anything. All the confidence she had worked so hard to gather had already betrayed her and she was caught in an awkward situation.

"Pikaaaa…." But to her relief Pikachu chose the moment to wake which turned Ash's attention as she let out a sigh.

Ash looked at him with so much affection that it could've been felt from far. "You were great out there buddy" he said as he petted his ears with his world famous smile.

"Chaaa" Pikachu let out a tired squeal to show his appreciation towards the remark.

"I think you should take your Pokémon to nurse Joy, Ash" Brock told him.

"Yeah you're right Brock" Ash looked at him with a reassuring look on his face, before leaving for the Pokemon Centre.

* * *

On their way to the Pokémon centre, Ash noticed that everyone was staring at him with a look of admiration, while some girls had blush on their faces. But Ash being Ash, found it a bit weird and it was becoming uneasy for him.

After they reached there, Ash went to the counter to hand his Pokémon for checkup. Ash saw that nurse Joy was smiling to see him, well she always did but this time it felt different. This whole situation was becoming awkward for him.

"We were hoping you, Ash Ketchum… now if you would place your pokeballs here" She said as she motioned towards the tray. He obliged her and did what she told him to.

"Don't worry they will all be in a perfect shape, soon" She assured him to which he smiled.

"Well I should congratulate for your great battle Mr. Ketchum. It was really good to see that there are trainers like you who could forfeit a semi-final match for their Pokemon's sake" She stated showing admiration in her voice.

He gave her a nervous smile before thanking her and returning to his friends.

"So guys now that it's done, what should we do till we wait" Ash asked them while scratching his cheek with his index finger.

But before anyone could have responded, Ash's stomach gave the answer with a grumbling sound.

Dawn chuckled a bit. "Now we know what to do" She said with a playful nudge to his ribs.

They all laughed to that and left to have some food. Ash was eating in his usual manner which assured his friends, that he was alright. After they had finished, Ash collected his Pokémon and they all went to their room. Dawn had decided that she would confess her feelings when Brock would drift off to sleep.

But when they had reached the door to their room, Ash stopped before turning back and heading to the stairs.

"Where are you going Ash?" She asked in a worried tone. It was just like the other day. But he wasn't that upset now. Was he?

"Oh just for a little walk down. I won't be late, I promise." Ash gave her a reassuring smile.

This was just the opportunity she needed and. 'Now is my chance', she thought.

"Hey... can I come with you" Everybody could tell that there was a lot of hope behind that request, which made it even hard for Ash to decline her.

"Ummm sorry Dawn, but I've got some business to take care of. I hope you don't mind" Ash told her with an apologetic smile.

Dawn's smile faded as she looked down, "Yeah sure"

"What business Ash?" Brock asked as he approached them.

"Well Cynthia asked me to meet her."

"Whaat?" They screamed as they mimicked their actions from the previous night.

Ash chuckled to their reaction "yeah" It was like he was having a deja vu.

"And why did she asked you to meet her"

"Ummm… She said she had a proposal for me".

"Whaaat" they thought they had heard wrong, for a second. Brock and Dawn turned towards each other to confirm they had heard him right, only to see each other's baffled look. Regaining their composure back they turned their attention back to the subject of the matter for some elaboration.

"What proposal Ash" Brock asked with his eyes wide open (yeah I know xD but believe me he's got eyes) Dawn on the other hand just stood silent, with her head held down fearing the worst.

"I don't Know… She didn't tell me" as he said that Brock covered his eyes with his arm and started weeping.

"Ummmm Brock?" he wasn't sure what happened to him and it was beginning to get awkward. But the next second Brock jumped in front of Ash, kneeling on one knee and his hands clamped together, with a huge grin and literal stars twinkling in his eyes.

"I can't believe it… you've bagged the big one…. All my training finally paid off…" He declared. He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded to himself approvingly.

"Big one? What is that supposed to mean?" Ash questioned looking ever so confused.

Brock did a comical fall to that one. "Well looks like I said too early" He finished with a deep sigh.

"Oh he means nothing Ash… you should leave, Cynthia would be waiting for you." Dawn told him while forcing a small smile.

"Yeah Ash you should go and here is a tip, never make a girl wait as it could heart her feelings….. and you must never make a champion like her wait cause she could hurt you with more than just feelings." Brock finished with nodding sagely.

"Uhh alright" Ash tilted his head to show his confusion.

* * *

As Ash left. Brock noticed that a frown took over to Dawn's smile and she held her head down.

It was strange to see her like that as she was just like Ash, always cheered up. And then he realized what could be the reason behind it, he remembered the few recent incidents he had noticed. The prayer Dawn was doing for Ash to win, the hug she gave him when he defeated Paul and the blush that she recently used to wear whenever they made an eye contact. It was clear in his book that she had feelings for him. But now that he came to know about Cynthia's proposal he just wished that it wasn't the case that he was expecting just a moment ago.

While he was thinking, Dawn on the other hand was on her bed now, with her arms wrapping legs and head buried in her knees. He couldn't see her like that of course, she was like a little sister to him. He approached her with a smile to try and help her.

"Dawn" he called her while taking a seat next to her on a chair.

Dawn realized how pathetically she was acting and quickly gathered herself up.

"Yeah?" she responded while rising her head and putting the same fake smile which she held a few moments ago.

"Is anything wrong? Or maybe something you would like to talk to me about?" he asked with a reassuring smile.

"Everything's fine Brock. I'm just a little tired. It has been a long day" She answered as she tilted her head with an innocent smile on her face. She hoped beyond hope that he would buy it because she didn't want to talk anything about all that.

Brock didn't seem to buy it and tried to play a hunch.

"Dawn I know how you feel about Ash." To his surprise, she didn't declined it, she didn't even appeared to be shocked. She knew it was pointless to hide herself, so she just decided to let it out.

"Only if he did too" she almost whispered while staring at the ceiling.

'I knew it' he screamed in his mind while grinning like an idiot.

"Well Dawn, you know him. He is too stupid to know himself." Brock said while putting extra emphasis on 'stupid'.

Oh... Dawn knew what he meant and what this was leading to and that annoyed her even more.

"Well I tried to tell him" She said as tears started to flow down her cheeks. "Not just one time" she continued, "but whenever I gather the courage to do it, something happens" she told him in an annoyed manner.

'sob' "It's like that Arcues does not want me to confess to him." She stated as she cursed the god Pokémon.

Now Brock's head was down too. He had only made the situation worse, at least she wasn't crying before. He tried to comfort her when she interrupted him.

"I don't know what proposal Cynthia have for him Brock…. But I know one thing" she paused to look at him for this one, "If he seemed to be happy about it and I don't care whatever it is, then I won't get in his way." She then closed her eyes before gathering herself up and curling into her blanket.

"I hope, it won't be like what we are thinking about it." Brock thought as he turned to his own bed.

* * *

Ash approached the same tree where he met her last night and it wasn't late till he spotted her. She was sitting on the bench while looking up to the stars as cold night breeze blew her hair. Any other guy would have just fallen for her but its Ash we are talking about. As he reached near her, he noticed the smile on her face broadening.

"Welcome Ash" She greeted while turning to face him.

"Hey Cynthia" Ash greeted her back with a smile.

"That was some great battling out there" she said in an impressed manner.

"umm thanks….. maybe" he paused for a moment before continuing "But you lost your money b'cause of me" he said with a chuckle.

She let out a chuckle of her own before adding, "And who told you that; in fact I won it."

This confused him a bit but after that he had put some thought to it, he realised what that meant.

"You knew I would not be able to beat him… didn't you?" Ash said calmly while giving her a mock glare to see her reaction. All he got was an apologetic look before a smile.

"You want some Ice cream? See there's a shop, not far from here and it makes the very best of them." She finished the sentence in a very excited tone.

"Well that couldn't hurt" he approved as she gave him a slight nod before motioning him to follow her.

When they reached to the shop, she asked him to stay at their table while she brings some for both of them. So he just waited as she came with two cones and handed him, one.

"Hey! How did you know that I liked Vanilla?" Ash enquired, slightly shocked.

Cynthia chuckled to it and decided to explain it to him.

"It's very easy you see…." She started while bringing her fingers to her chin as if she was giving a deep thought of what she wanted to say.

"The things people like to eat, reveals a lot about their personality and so does their personality" She noticed that he looked slightly confused. She sighed and closed her eyes as a small smile crossed her face.

"You see Ash, I knew that you would like it because I know that your heart is just as clear as your taste"

"Clear heart?" Cynthia opened her eyes, as she continued, "Yes Ash, what I mean to say is that your heart do not possess anything other than care for other, hidden deep inside in it. It's just pure."

Everything went over his skull.

"Uhhhh… whatever that is supposed to mean."

Cynthia sighed and closed her eyes again before giggling softly. "Right…. Hehehe" she said while giggling.

After they had finished their Ice creams, they started heading back.

"Well Cynthia you'd said earlier you had a proposition for me." Ash reminded her, feeling a bit anxious.

"hmmm? Oh yeah about that" She bit her tongue, she had almost forgotten about it. "how silly of me" she reprimanded herself.

"Well Ash I wanted to ask to know if you would like to go with me?" She asked her while staring at his face.

"Go with you? What do you mean Cynthia?"

She smirked to that.

"Well, what I mean Ash Ketchum is that you are not aware of your true potential. You don't know what you are capable of achieving. You could very well be the best Pokémon trainer to ever set foot on this world."

Ash was listening her, jaw dropped and eyes wide open. How could she be that confident about him? He himself, had never placed himself that high, not even in his wildest dreams.

Cynthia's smirk broadened as she continued. "So about my proposal, I want you to train with me as my apprentice."

"You are kidding right?" Ash said as he was now having hard time controlling himself from jumping up and down. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. As he thought more about it, his smile faded which she noticed.

"What is it Ash?"

"I don't get it Cynthia…; if you are looking for a trainer to be your apprentice, wouldn't it be better if you take Paul or Tobias. I mean they are already stronger than me. Well what I mean is, why me?"

Cynthia knew that it was coming and she was prepared for it. She gave him an assuring smile and turned her gaze to stare the star lit sky.

"Well Ash, you possess something that they lack."

"Something that they lack?"

"Yes, you see what they lack is a heart with no selfish desire. I know that you all strive to be stronger but I know that you are the only, among the three that knows what it means to be strong."

"It's your selfless attitude that brings out everyone's best. It is your heart that allows your Pokémon to be able to do, what they do. The same selflessness which you demonstrated while forfeiting for Pikachu's sake. You know a pokemon's true strength comes from the bond between them and their trainer and heart is the medium of that bond. Have you ever considered, why every Pokémon turns out to believe you at some point?"

Ash was already fumbling back and forth by all her words and that question caught him off guard. She was right. He hadn't a lot of thought over this ever before but this was a fact. He had somehow always found a way to create a trust between a Pokemon and himself, including Legendary's.

"Umm… no" he couldn't find any other words. She smiled to his words as she already knew it, before continuing.

"It's your heart Ash. It's so clear that they could see themselves in you, just like a mirror. The bond you share with your Pokémon isn't normal Ash, so let me help you, let me make you the strongest the world could offer as I know you can."

Ash couldn't stop himself before a small smile on his face and blush appeared on his face because of all the praising. He stared his feet while still blushing.

She knew she had got him. She smirked and added, "You don't need to answer right away Ash, as you must give it a thorough thought."

"First of all, the training isn't going to be easy and besides, there's a catch."

"A catch?" Ash muttered now daring to look at her as his blush vanished.

Cynthia nodded slightly and then she wore a serious look on her face.

"You see Ash, this training's gonna cost you some time, a minimum of two years and till it's over; you would not be able to see your friends or family. She explained, trying to sound as serious as she could.

All he did was a slight nod but with a similar expression on his face.

She smiled to that. "Well you have till the beginning of finals to give me your response.

Ash nodded again and this time with a smile of his own.

"Well now that it's done for, I better leave" She paused a bit to gaze at him "you see I am late, I had to be at Goodshow's office by now." She told him as she bit her tongue.

"Well if that was the case, then maybe we shouldn't have been to the village for the ice creams." He said while now staring at her, amused by her behavior.

"Well you see I was a little nervous." She admitted before chuckling a bit.

"And whenever I am nervous I have some ice cream as it helps me calm my nerves, after all I love it." She said in a silly manner.

"But what were you nervous for" he was confused like always. He couldn't see why she would be nervous. It was him that should've been nervous. It was him who was in the presence of a regional champion, not her.

"You see it was the first time I proposed someone to be my apprentice." She gave some extra emphasis on the word 'propose' before giggling.

"Oh I see" he said in a playful manner.

"Well see you tomorrow then" Cynthia said as they reached the entrance of her hotel.

Ash wished her good night, before approaching his own room. While heading back, each of Cynthia's words echoed in his mind. He still wasn't able to figure out if it really happened.

He didn't have to think about his answer, because he already knew what it was. The main thing was how is he going to explain others and how will they react, specially his mom.

'Aw man this is going to be a long night.'


	4. Good Bye Dawn

_**Chapter 4**_ _ **: Good Bye Dawn**_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _ **: I do not own Pokémon, Nintendo and that Satoshi Guy do :P**_

When Ash returned to his room, he found that both Dawn and Brock were already in their beds. He sighed in relief as he won't have to tell them, at least for now. Quietly he made it to his bed where Pikachu was already sleeping. He didn't bother to change and just broke into his bed. He then just laid on his back with both his hands behind his neck and stared the ceiling. Then he closed his eyes to try and figure out the reactions he would be getting when he would deliver the terms of the 'proposal' to everybody. Of course they would want him to grab this once in a lifetime opportunity. He knew they would all be very happy for him or maybe as excited as he is. But then, he himself couldn't figure out if he was excited at all. He knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity but he wasn't sure if he would embrace it alone. This whole mental dilemma was now getting to his nerves. He grew more and more frustrated with every passing moment and it was now starting to affect him as his head began to ache. He clasped his palm to his head, creating a slight sound and as if luck would have it, Dawn heard it.

"Ash is that you?" She enquired while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

'Perfect!' He thought to himself while cursing his luck.

"Yeah Dawn it's me" He confirmed without moving an inch but his eyes now open.

She sat up on her bed and tried to find him in the dark room.

"So you're back" she paused for a bit before continuing, "How did it go" now looking towards her feet while playing with her hair. She was really nervous. She has had a bad feeling about this whole proposal stuff, she couldn't figure out why but she somehow knew it would affect 'them' somehow.

"Ummm, it was fine Dawn" he replied while twirling his fingers in nervousness. He wasn't able to put up the topic. He couldn't gather the courage to do that. Dawn's situation wasn't any better herself. As much as she wanted to know, what it was all about, in a corner of her heart, she wasn't so sure if she really wanted to hear it.

Dawn seemed to be better in gathering herself up because she was the one to break the silence, "So Ash, what was the proposition all about." Ash had thought that she would ask him in a really excited tone but she said so softly that he hardly got what she said but being him, he thought she was tired.

He sighed deeply and looked over to the sleeping electric mouse to say it, "Well she invited me to train with her as her apprentice."

"Appre…" Dawn mumbled with her eyes wide open. She was so sure that it would be like love related thing but to hear otherwise was, well how to say it was shocking for her. She wasn't sure if he had really said that or her mind was playing tricks with her.

"Wow Ash, you've got to be kidding me, train with her really?"

Ash jumped a bit off shock as another voice joined the conversation. He turned his gaze to see that Brock was up, looking as excited as ever.

"Uhh… Brock didn't know you were up" he explained his actions while giving him a slight nod.

"Wow Ash you really are lucky, spending most of your time with someone as beautiful as her" he said while clasping both his hands and stars twinkling behind him. Brock was really excited about this. It turned out to be a win – win situation. He knew how much getting stronger meant for Ash and he was really happy to know that things didn't turn out to be like what they had thought. He was really happy for Dawn as she wouldn't have to force herself after all.

Ash chuckled to his actions nervously while scratching his cheek with his index finger.

"I guess I am lucky" he admitted.

Dawn on the other hand was too shocked to respond and she just sat there like a statue. Ash then noticed that she hasn't said a word since the news. He wanted to know how she felt about it. He reached the lamp beside his bed and turned it on. Then he turned his gaze to look at her.

"What do you think about it Dawn?" he asked her.

Him, calling her name helped her to snap out of her trance. She was too delighted to know that it wasn't going to separate those two. In the spirit of the moment, she dashed towards him and tackled him down while wrapping him in her arms.

Ash knew she would be excited but he never saw that one coming.

"Congratulations Ash… Oooh am soo excited for you." She squealed while tightening her embrace.

"Umm t-thanks" He thanked her but in rather sounding quite awkward as he was taken aback by her actions.

Brock smiled to the interaction but knew that Ash was beginning to grow uneasy, so he decided to remind her what she was doing. So, he did a loud fake cough.

Dawn realised her position and pushed herself away from him. Blushing furiously in a dark shade of crimson red, she apologized for her actions, "I… I'm sorry" She said in a shaking voice while her head bowed down. She was too embarrassed to look at him let alone making an eye contact.

"It's alright, no harm done" He ensured her and gave her a reassuring smile while tilting his head slightly.

'No not again' she said to herself, 'Why does he always has to smile in these situations" If it would have been possible, then her cheeks would have grown redder.

Ash being Ash didn't pay attention to any of that, he had far more important things which needed to be made clear.

"Well we are really excited about it Ash", "has she told you when you are leaving?" It was Brock this time who, unlike the dense raven haired trainer, had noticed the furious blush that Dawn had worn and was now grinning like a goof.

Ash lips curved into a frown. "No Brock, I am still to give her my response" Ash sighed. Here it comes.

"Bu…" Brock tried to ask why hasn't he already but was interrupted by him. "I don't know if am as excited about it either" he now held his head down while his hands crossed over his chest. As he gazed intently towards the sleeping form of his best friend.

Dawn gave him a puzzled look before adding, "But why Ash, we all know how much it means to you" What was on his mind? Why hasn't he already given an answer?

He rose his head to look at her, "Because she said I would not be able to see any of you until it's over and according to her, it would probably take at least 2 years if not more." He explained in a rather disappointed manner.

"You see guys I want to go and train with her. I know she can make me stronger. I'm sure she would lead me to my dream." He paused for a bit to look at the sleeping Pikachu, "But I'm not sure if I want to reach their without you guys." So this was it all about, thought the duo. They knew that if it was any other person it wouldn't have been an issue. But it was Ash they were talking about. The same Ash they knew that lived for and with his friends and Pokemon. To not being able to see them for such a long period would be a torture for him.

Silence took over the place for a couple of minutes. Everybody was staring their feet as no smiles flashed in the room, unlike just few moments ago. No one seeming to know what to say, or how to react to that particular detail. Dawn was the one to break the silence again. She lifted her head which contained a small smile or a fake one maybe and placed her hand over his shoulder. Ash raised his own head to meet her gaze.

She pumped her fist much like the way Ash does, before starting, "Aww common Ash, there's no need to be down, in fact there's no reason to be down, it's just a matter of 2 years, and after that we would all be together again and on the other hand you are going to have your Pokemon with you, so you won't be alone at least not completely."

Brock couldn't help but feel bad, he knew if anyone would be suffering those two years, it would be her but despite that he was too proud to see that she was there, encouraging him to pursue his dreams while she was well enlightened with the fact that all this time without him would be nothing better than night mare to her. He knew that if Ash not being there would effect someone the most, then it would be her.

Seeing that a smile curved on his face, she closed her eyes and smiled to herself. 'She had done it, she had convinced him to leave her and go, the very person she'd started to wakes up for. Just to see that goofy smile of his. Oh she was proud of herself.'

She raised her hand over her head and gave him a knowing smile. Ash had one of his own as he clasped her hand with his own, for their classic high five.

* * *

Dawn had woke up early next morning. Last night didn't turn out to be that bad. She kept assuring herself that it was just a matter of time and after that he would return to her and then she would confess to him. Actually she was pretty pleased with herself that she had done the right thing. Well she didn't just woke up early for no reason. She had done it to see him sleeping. She wanted to watch him when the first rays of the morning would hit his face, illuminating it. To her it was his innocence which did the charm for her. He looked so innocent sleeping but to her 'luck' he was nowhere to be seen, neither was Pikachu.

All her energy died down, as this was her last chance for a long time now, if she would ever get a chance again. She didn't know what hit her but she felt like exploding. All the emotions she was hiding beneath her surface, took over and she felt like she couldn't take it any longer. She rushed to the bathroom while the dwelling emotions flowing from her eyes, she turned on the shower with her clothes still on. Then she dropped to her knees and cried her heart out. She knew she was crying way too loud and Brock would might hear her but she didn't care cause she knew, if she would hold herself in then she might explode.

* * *

Ash on the other hand was at the Pokemon Centre. He knew he had to let his mom and Professor Oak know about it all. He was too relieved to know that Pikachu was more than excited about this when he had let him know just after waking up earlier that day. He went over to one of the videophones and picked it up before grabbing his chin with his fingers thoughtfully.

"Hmm… now whom should I call first" he mumbled as he contemplated to himself.

"pika… pika pi Pikachu" Pikachu said while waving his paws, trying to explain him, what he thought was the right choice.

"Right buddy" Ash gave him a thankful nod before dialing an all too familiar number.

"Hello Ketchum residence" The screen showed a woman in her mid thirty's sitting in front of them.

"Hey mom, it's me"

"Pikaa" Pikachu squeaked from his position.

"Ohh Ash…. Pikachu, how are you? Oooh I'm sooo proud that you made it to the semi-finals." She said it all real quickly, making it almost hard to figure out what she meant. Ash chuckled while rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"I'm fine mom, what about you?" She smiled and told him that she was doing just great.

"When are you coming home dear, I will cook all you favourite dishes for you. Ohh it's been so long since I last saw in person. Look at you, you're growing in front of my eyes." She squealed.

"Yeah about that mom" He hesitated a bit which she noticed.

"What is it Ash?" Ash heard another familiar voice and soon he was able to see the person whom it belonged to.

"Hey Professor, it's so good to see you" He greeted and was grateful that now he wouldn't have to explain him individually. Silently he thanked Pikachu who just gave him a smug look.

"It's good to see you too my boy" then he congratulated him for his great performance at the league. He sounded rather proud while he was doing it and he let Pikachu know that he had actually predicted that he would defeat the Latios which obviously made Pikachu beam with happiness. It was then that his mother asked him what he meant earlier. Now this was what he was dreading about. He didn't know how they would respond over what he was about to tell them. He knew it all depended on their decision, as he as hell wasn't going to go against their wishes. He just hoped they won't freak out, specially his mother.

Ash sighed and then calmed himself down and turned to his mother. He told them everything about Cynthia's proposition to train with her.

"So you see mom, I don't think I would be able to see you guys in anytime soon." He looked down at the moment he had said it. After a couple of moments of silence. He raised his head to see them looking at each other and then after a moment turning to face him with both wearing smiles of their own.

"It's fine with us Ash. Go train hard and show the world what my baby can do" Delia told him. The decision wasn't that hard for Delia. She knew what it meant for her Ash. She knew that it would kill her not to see her baby but then again he would just stay for a few days before heading to another adventure. So to her it was an obvious choice.

Now, on any other day, he would've shown annoyance on being called a baby but right now he was missing her way too much to do that, he just wanted to go there and hug her with all his life. After getting his emotions in line a bit he responded.

"I'll miss you mom, professor" He said while trying his hardest not to cry.

"We'll miss you too my boy" Samuel Oak told him while Delia just nodded. Ash nodded himself with a look of sheer determination. Now that he was being given the chance, he would make sure to make the most of it.

"Just one thing Ash, take care of yourself and yeah, don't forget to wear clean under wears."(Mooooom) she chuckled the atmosphere cooling down a bit and paused for bit to avert her gaze to look at Pikachu, "I don't trust him Pikachu, you take care of him Okay?"

"Pika" he squeaked while giving her a reassuring nod.

"Don't worry about Ash, I'll take good care of him" Ash turned around to see that it was Cynthia.

"Hey I can take care of myself" he made himself clear. Treating him like a baby when someone as Cynthia was present wasn't something he wanted and now he was totally embarrassed and sported a small blush and irritated pout.

Everybody laughed to it and Delia nodded and said "Yeah right" with sarcasm leaking from it, which made Ash to face fault and drop his head in resignation.

Delia then turned to look Cynthia directly into the eyes. "I'm trusting you with me baby"

Cynthia smirked and nodded to reassure her.

"I'm not a baby" This time he screamed, too embarrassed to look at anyone.

"hehe… Of course dear, now good bye and stay out of trouble Okay?" She ordered while almost tearing at the end. Ash noticed her and as now about to lose his own control. "mom" he mumbled under his breath.

With that Delia hung up the phone not wanting him, to see her crying when they were going to see each other for the last time in a while. And with that the screen went black.

"Good bye" he mumbled while a tear leaving his eye. Cynthia noticed it but she knew just the way to deal with it. She too could feel the emotions in the atmosphere but she had to cheer him. She smirked at him before mimicking his words, trying her hardest to sound like him "I'm not a baby" playfully. He chuckled to that and swept the lone tear with his shirt.

He then stood up of the seat and turned towards her. He bowed in front of her slightly, before saying, "Mistress Cynthia Shirona, please accept me as your apprentice." Naturally Cynthia was a little embarrassed by his actions but when she saw the slight smirk that he held, she knew that he was just being sore looser.

She smirked herself as she responded, "I do take you as my apprentice" She paused for a bit with her hand on her chin as if she was thinking about something, "hmmmm…. Mistress Cynthia hun? Have nice ring to it" She chuckled at the end with Ash joining her with his own.

"So what now" he asked her as they both calmed down, sounding a bit curious.

"hmm, I'll tell you after the award ceremony, till then hang out with your friends or rest a bit maybe" she replied with a nonchalant shrug before turning to leave.

"See you then"

* * *

He waved her bye and decided they should head back to their own room. When he reached to his room, he saw that Dawn was in her bed with her head buried in her knees and Brock was sitting next to her with his hand on her shoulder, as if he was trying to comfort her. He didn't waste another second and rushed to her.

"Dawn" he called her name but she didn't respond.

"Dawn!" he called her again but this time much louder than before almost yelling.

"uhh, oh hey Ash" She wasn't expecting for him to return so soon and almost jumped out in surprise.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a very worried tone. Then he looked into her eyes and came to know that they were bloody red. 'Was she crying?' he thought to himself. But he couldn't think of a reason for her to cry. Did he do something wrong?

"Yea, I am fine, don't worry about me" she lied to him and curved her lips into a fake smile to support her statement.

Ash didn't buy it as he knew something was not right.

"No you are not Dawn and now I'm really starting to worry about you, what happened to your eyes?" he asked her while now taking a seat next to her. She quickly turned to hide her face as she knew it was a total mess.

Brock have had enough though. He knew how much this whole thing meant to him but he couldn't see Dawn suffer either. "She was crying" Brock informed him grimly. Ash was already aware of that and couldn't help but wonder if that was because of his leaving. So he just went for it.

"Is it because of me" Dawn quickly turned to look at him. Seemingly surprised with the question. She waved her hand in front of him frantically to tell him otherwise.

"Of course not silly" She assured him. She knew she had to do something or she might won't be able to hold herself back. She knew if she would stay with him, then she might do something crazy that later on she would regret. So she had to act brave. She knew she had to leave him somehow. As it would be much better than waiting for him to leave her. She then got an idea and she just hoped that he would buy it.

"I got a call from my home town, it was from the hospital." She paused a bit and turned her gaze to look into his eyes before continuing, "they said my mom was there" She sounded so genuine that he fell for it.

"Whaat? Johanna is in hospital" He was really shocked to hear it as he had never anticipated it coming as he watched her with wide eyes. She sighed mentally in relief. Well she just hoped he would forgive her when he would find out about her lie.

She nodded slowly while now staring out of the window. She then turned to see that he had stood up and was now approaching for his bag.

She watched him while raising a delicate eyebrow, "What are you doing Ash?"

"We are going to her" he said while giving her a look of finality.

She smiled to herself. That was her Ash, willing to sacrifice his everything for the sake of his loved ones. She was a bit surprised too. She knew he cared for her and it was her mother they were talking about but she had never that he would choose to be with her for her mother rather than to be with Cynthia for himself.

She shook her head slowly with her eyes closed and then looked directly into his eyes with a faint smile.

"We are not going to her Ash" he couldn't believe what she was saying. Johanna, her mother was in hospital and she said they won't go to her.

"But she needs us. We can't just leave her alone." He retorted exasperatedly with a frown.

"That's why I am leaving Ash, you and Brock stay here." Ash tried to oppose her but she interrupted him, "Please Ash, no more discussion" she pleaded to him.

"But Dawn" he whispered and dropped his head to stare his feet.

Just as Dawn was about to head towards him, someone knocked the door and Brock went to attend the person which turned out to be Nurse Joy. She greeted him and asked if she could talk to Ash Ketchum. She informed him that the final match was about to commence and he had to be at the stadium for the award ceremony which was to follow it. He thanked her as she left.

He then turned to face Dawn with a helpless look. He knew what that meant. She seemed to realize it too and decided that she should go first to make things easy for him. 'He already had so much on his mind after all.'

"I think this is it then" She paused for a bit before continuing "I won't be here after the match"

Ash's gaze dropped to hear that as he nodded his head understandingly. She then approached him and embraced him. Much to her surprise and joy, he returned the hug by wrapping his own arms around her. That made her smile despite all the pain she was suffering with at the moment.

"Thank you so much Ash" She whispered in his ear.

"Thank you for making me who I am today." She thanked him repeatedly and pulled herself away after a few moments from him.

She looked into his eyes to see that they were numb but it was all blurry as she was numb too. He just nodded with his world famous smile which was enough for her to make her smile back.

She then turned to Brock who had some tears of his own and hugged him too while thanking for everything he had done for her.

* * *

After few minutes, they all left their room and now stood at the exit of the hotel to see Dawn off.

"Take care of Johanna and yourself too, Dawn"

"Yeah, I will" she had let Piplup out of his Pokeball so that he could say his goodbyes to him and Pikachu. She then leaned towards the little mouse pokemon and grabbed him into an embrace. "Take care of yourself and Ash for me, will you?" she asked him while her eyes closed and her lips curved into a big grin.

"Pikachu~" He gave her an assuring nod and then she handed him to Ash. Who had a small smile seeing the interaction between the two.

"Hey you don't have to worry about me" he said in a silly manner. To tell the truth, he had said that sentence for a reason. He wanted to hear it for one last time.

She chuckled slightly, seemingly getting the message, before leaning forward with her hands on her hips. "That's when I worry the most Ash Ketchum." Trying to sound as serious as she could. He chuckled before giving her an assuring nod which made her own lips curve upwards.

She then turned to Brock and wished him bye with a small hug.

She then tried to call Piplup back to his pokeball be he dodged the beam and tried to hide behind Ash, making it clear what he thought about the situation. He didn't want to leave his friends. He gave Ash a pleading look as if asking for him to do something, but the latter picked him up and handed him back to Dawn.

"Piplup!" He yelled with tears streaming down his face as he struggled against his trainer's grasp. Dawn tried to calm his down but he was having none of it. Seeing no other option, even if he would be upset with her for some time, she recalled him and turned around to leave. She had only taken a few steps before turning back to see Ash in his eyes and extending an arm over her head.

He grinned before running to her and clasping his own hand with hers doing their signature 'High - Five' for one last time.

* * *

 **Author's Note** **:** **So guys here goes my fourth chapter. I know it was kind of late and I apologize for that. I wanted to dedicate it to Dawn cause Pearlshipping is my next favourite to amourshipping and to tell you the truth, it's gonna be really hard for me to continue the story without her (emotionally) xP. But the show must go on. I must promise to you guys that you aren't seeing her last time in the story. She is really important for my plot. And yeah about the plot… I know some of you must find it to be heading in a really predictable direction (Ash trains blah blah blah, becomes badass and returns to win a tournament) but I promise you it won't be like that. Just another chapter and then the foundation of the story would be set and the real story would begin. Am so looking forward to it and I hope you guys are too but lemme assure you 'IT'S GOING TO BE WORTH IT'.**


	5. The New Beginning

_**Chapter 5**_ **: The New Beginning **

_**Disclaimer:**_ _ **I DON'T OWN ANYTHING BUT THIS STORY OF MINE. xD**_

 _ **A/N : Re-edited on June 30, 2017**_

* * *

 **At the stadium** ,

Ash was standing in the stadium among the other participants for the award ceremony with a visible frown plastered on his face. He had joined the other trainers just after he had seen off Dawn. Yes, he was sad for her departure but it was soon replaced with excitement as the final match went underway. He was told to wait at the Player's Tunnel till the match was over but that didn't take long. The person, to whom he had lost had obliterated his opponent in his vintage style, by just using his Darkrai. He wasn't surprised at all, but the look on his face would suggest otherwise. Actually it was a strange mix of emotions. Emotions like sadness, longing, excitement, sympathy and pride. He was sad because he wasn't the one to be fighting against him, excited because he was too mesmerised to see such a power display, sympathy for the trainer who had lost to him and pride because of the fact that his pokemon had done something that neither of the other trainer's could do.

Soon the stage was set up at the middle of the arena which now contained the league officials and the Sinnoh champion herself. Tobias was called to the stage where he was handed the Trophy by none other than Cynthia. She congratulated him and as per the tradition, she asked him if he would challenge the Elite Four, to which he smirked and admitted. She responded him with a smirk of her own and nodded knowingly. With that she was called to the mic to address the tournament.

"The past few days have given each of us a lot to memories for us to remember for the rest of our lives. It has taught us the fact that there are some heights to be reached" she paused a bit to glance over to Tobias with a smirk. She then turned her gaze to look towards a certain raven haired trainer. Her smirk turned into a soft smile as she closed her eyes for a moment and then turned to look towards the cameras.

"It has taught us that there is more to training a Pokémon than just getting stronger to win matches." Ash dropped his gaze to try and cover his face using his cap as he was too embarrassed to make any eye contacts cause he knew what she meant and whom she was addressing.

And then there was a loud cheer from the crowd. It caught him with surprise causing him to jump off a bit off the sudden eruption. He raised his head to figure out what the whole commotion was all about but was caught off guard to see himself on the display screen. It was obvious that everybody knew who she was referring to. Flustered with the reaction of the crowd, he raised his head to the place where Cynthia was standing and he wasn't surprised a bit to see that she was looking at him with a somewhat proud expression. He gave her a nervous smile to which she chuckled and turned to the cameras again.

"It has shown us the strength of the bond between a trainer and their Pokémon" she continued.

"In the end I would like to congratulate all of you for making this event such a success and I would like to give my best wishes to all of them, who strive to be at the very top and with that I, now announce the conclusion of this year's conference." With her words the whole sky lit up with beautiful colours as the firework began. The scene was 'breath taking' which was supported by all the 'awes' that could be heard from the crowd.

Ash was enjoying the beautiful exhibition himself when he heard a voice, which turned out to belong to Cynthia. She motioned him to follow her which he obliged. But it wasn't a comfortable walk because he realized that he was the center of attention of the whole stadium. Everybody was looking at him as he followed her and the scene was getting, well bit of an awkward one for him.

He followed her as she led him to her green room. She stopped at the door to look at him with an assuring look. She opened the door and made her way towards a couch. She then asked him to come inside and close the door behind him. With the door closed, she broke into the couch.

"Well make yourself comfortable, have a seat" she told him while motioning over to another couch beside hers. Well if it would've been anyone else, he would have been nervous to be alone in a room with a girl like her, but to him she was just another friend. So, he did what he was told after a slight nod.

"Finally its over" She sighed loudly and stretched her body a bit. "It's tiresome to be a champion you know" she said in a complaining manner, to which Ash chuckled. He had to admit it, he had never seen her behaving in such a folksy manner.

She gave him a forced smile and because of all her complaining, it made it look kind of a silly one. She then got up and turned to approach the fridge, she opened the door and took out a soft drink for her. She then turned around to look at him.

"So what would you like to have" She asked.

"Well, I think I'll pass" he waved his arms to refuse with a nervous grin, but it didn't matter as she handed him his own can.

He thanked her and she once again took her place. She took a few sips to see that he was just sitting there, his can yet to be opened. She sighed and leaned towards him.

"You don't have to be shy with me you know. After all we're going to be together for some time now"

"Y… Yes you're right" he stammered out as he started drinking his own drink.

After he had finished it, which he did real quickly, he turned to her.

"So what now?" he asked her doing nothing to hide some bits of curiosity.

"huh? Oh yeah" She bit her lower lip while smashing her fist into her palm as if she had just remembered something, earning a huge sweat drop from the Raven haired trainer. She then took out a tablet and began working on it. After a couple of minutes, she turned to face him.

"Well, we are leaving tomorrow morning. We've got a plane to catch at 2 in the afternoon. So I'll just pick you up at 9 AM from your room" She explained him their plan, making Ash raise a delicate brow.

"But if the flight's in the afternoon, then why leave so early."

She smirked, "You'll see tomorrow" His other eyebrow joined the first one as he was confused but nodded nevertheless knowing he won't be getting anything else.

"Another thing" she added, "No one should know that I'm training you" she told him seriously. The tone making Ash stiffen a bit as it was the first time in the day that she'd actually said something like that.

"But why" he asked sounding ever so confused.

She sighed, "If everyone would know that I'm training you then, "she paused a bit to think how it would be as a shiver went through her spine "Well, there goes our privacy."

He just nodded, not getting a single point though. He then shook his confusion off to continue, "Well you haven't told me which Pokémon I should bring or where we are going."

She stood up and now went to the dressing table and took a seat in front of the mirror. She then began to remove her earrings.

"Where we are going, mmm, well it's a secret till tomorrow and about your Pokémon, you don't have to worry about it. Just take your Pikachu with you" she told him while looking at him through the mirror, her nonchalant tone earning her another sweat drop.

"Okay, I guess I should leave then, I've got to collect my Pokémon from the Centre" he told her while turning to head to the door but before he could do it, she called him, "Wait Ash"

"What is it Cynthia" He asked while turning to face her.

"Uhh, just don't worry if someone says anything weird about "Us" Okay?" She paused a bit, her body language making it pretty obvious that she wasn't comfortable "And yeah when you leave the room just don't say a word to them, whether the ask you anything." She told him with a silly expression.

"What do you mean and who they?"

"Well you'll know, just close the door behind you." He nodded slowly, though still wondering what she meant.

"See you tomorrow then" She said at the moment he turned the door knob.

"Yeah really looking forward to it" he said with a huge grin. He hadn't noticed that he had opened the door and someone was standing behind him and as he turned to leave, he saw well nothing actually. He couldn't see a thing as he was blinded by a bright light. He shielded his face with his hand in instincts as his eyes slowly focused making the light slowly die down.

"Mr. Ketchum, what were you doing in Ms Cynthia's room." A voice said which seem to belong to a woman.

"What's going on" he asked himself.

"How long you've been together" said another voice. He raised his brow to the question. He wasn't getting anything at all.

"Mr Ketchum, is it true that you and Ms Cynthia are in a relationship" said another voice.

'What? Relationship' he thought to himself.

"When did you two meet?"

"Was it during a training session?"

"Do you two train together? Was that the reason for your great performance?"

"What are you looking forward to? "And what are your future plans?" said the first woman.

Ash was now close to panicking. He waved his hands to try and calm them all down but it was a vain attempt as he was bombarded with more question. He frowned 'So this is what she meant. Aw man' he thought to himself.

Suddenly someone grabbed his hand and pulled him through the reporters. It turned out to be Brock as he leaded Ash out of the commotion. After running for about 15 minutes, they were able to shake them off their tails. They now stood in their room, trying to catch their breaths.

"Thanks a lot Brock, I owe you big" Ash thanked him while still trying to catch his breath.

Brock Chuckled a bit before admitting. "Yup it looks like so"

Brock stopped laughing to stare at him with a calm expression. Ash noticed his stare and he didn't know why but he was starting to get a bad feeling about it.

"What is it Brock?"

"Just thinking about the time we first met." He paused a bit as his lips curved into a small smile. "You sure have grown Ash, grown a lot"

Ash had to smile himself to that. But the next moment his smile turned into a frown. It was beginning to get clear, where it was heading to.

"You're leaving aren't you?" he asked in a very calm yet sad voice, to which Brock nodded. He dropped his gaze to stare the floor and nodded himself. Brock was there with him from the very beginning. He had started to look at him as an older brother, a brother he never had.

He was the one who taught him all about training a Pokemon. It was him who had set the bars for him. Yes, saying goodbye was never an easy task. But with Brock, it wasn't like that at all, because he knew he's family to him. And it doesn't matter how far you've gone or for how long you've been away, you would always find them waiting for you.

"Thank you Brock, for everything" he said while glancing towards the floor. Broke smiled and gave him a brotherly hug.

"If you ever need me, just let me know" he assured him with now smiling broadly.

"Yeah I know" he replied with a grin of his own.

* * *

"The rest of the day went out quite quickly for him. When he had seen off Brock, he had returned to the Pokemon Centre to collect his Pokemon, whom he had left earlier for a final checkup before he had transported them to Oak's laboratory. All but Pikachu of course. Now he was in his room, lying on his back while staring at the ceiling.

"I'm spent" He complained in a childish manner before sighing exasperatedly.

"Pii?" Pikachu tilted his head in confusion.

It was true he hadn't done anything to feel that way. He had just been to the Pokemon Centre to collect his pokemon. But doing so with a crowd surrounding you and asking for pictures and autographs isn't the same thing. He was saved yet again by another person, though this time the person being Nurse Joy.

Though being tired couldn't stop him from being excited about the adventure they were to begin.

Next morning, he was up early. Well not exactly as he had hardly slept. He was too excited to sleep. He had already finished his packing the previous night, so he had nothing to do but wait for Cynthia to get him. The level of his excitement could be estimated by the fact that he was literally standing at his door with his backpack on and Pikachu on his shoulder, at the moment the time was 9.

He was growing impatient with every passing moment and when the door knocked, he opened it instantly. It was Cynthia, she jumped in surprise because of the sudden movement but the moment she saw the looks in his eyes, she burst into laughter.

"Looks like someone's excited" she said while trying to rhythm her breathing.

"You bet" he admitted while thrusting his fist in the air.

"Pikaaa" Pikachu squeaked from his shoulder while mimicking is trainer's actions.

Cynthia smirked to see his anticipation but something was missing. Dawn and Brock were missing. She'd thought that they would be there to see them off as she had never saw them separated before, but that never happened. Trying to suffice her curiosity she decided to ask herself.

"Where are your friends" She asked in curious tone.

"They had to leave," he paused a bit as he calmed himself down. "You see Dawn's mother is hospitalized so she had to be with her and Brock got a call from his gym."

Cynthia nodded understandingly and motioned him to follow her. He did precisely what he was told.

"Where are we going" he asked her.

She stopped in her tracks to glance towards him with a look that was a little too enthusiastic for Ash's taste. Now Ash was never paranoid but he couldn't shake this forlorn feeling "We're going shopping" She said with a wink. The moment he heard the word shopping, Ash had to regain his footing.

"Whaat?" he asked in a bit of surprise and exasperation.

She chuckled, "Yeah, now come on" she said while turning back to walk ahead.

"But…" He tried to ask her why, but she was getting well ahead of him so he just shrugged his shoulders and followed her.

Soon they both arrived at the shopping centre and as expected they were surrounded by a huge crowd. They all were asking for a picture or an autograph and to Ash's surprise they all seemed to be more interested in him than the Sinnoh Champion herself, as majority of the crowd being girls.

"Hey what's with all the commotion" said a voice which probably belonged to a boy.

"It's Cynthia and that Ash Ketchum from the news earlier" answered the other boy, who was standing with him.

"I don't get what she liked about that little punk" he said while irritation leaking from his voice.

"I'm way better that he could ever be" he added in a smug manner.

"Well he's quite strong to reach to the league's final and if you ask me, he happens to be kindaa cute too." Said another voice which belonged to a girl, who was with the other two boys.

"Strong my foot, I'll show him what real strength is." He spat as he started approaching them. The other two shared a nervous glance before they ran after him to try and stop him but failed as he was way too bigger than them both.

"So you are that Ketchum boy" he yelled pointing towards Ash. The whole noise died down on noticing the harsh tone.

"You think you're strong, please" He said in a taunting manner.

"If you think so then you're pathetic" he paused a bit to glance over Cynthia, "and it's even more pathetic that a girl like you would chose a kid who is nothing but a weakling.

Ash was furious, who was he supposed to be to call him a weakling.

"Hey" Ash yelled as he began to approach him but was stopped by Cynthia. He tried to oppose her but the moment he looked at her he stopped. He had never seen her like that. He gulped with fear and took a step back unconsciously as he saw pure rage in her eyes. She now turned to face the person who was creating the scene.

"Who are you" She asked coldly.

"Name's Steven, 'The Fire Master'" he replied in an arrogant manner, obviously enjoying all the attention he was getting.

"Alright…. So who are you?" She asked him again with the same expression.

"What? I just told you" He said now sounding a bit of confused.

"I mean who are you to question my decision and consider Ash a weakling?" She said now showing irritation in her voice.

He smirked, before laughing a bit, 'Oh he would make her see her fault. Then she would be with him not that brat' "Oh he's just a weak little boy. He ain't got no idea what real strength is."

Cynthia smirked herself and closed her eyes, "So he don't know what strength is hun?"

"So tell me what strength is for you?" She said in an obvious mocking way but the poor man didn't seem to see it.

He grabbed his a Pokeball and released his Pokemon who turned out to be a giant Charizard. Her smirk widened as she took a look at the abnormally giant lizard Pokemon before closing her eye and bringing her head down. Steven beamed to see that as he thought that he had made his point. He soon had a cocky smirk on his face as he totally failed to see the hidden smirk that Cynthia wore.

"Have your Charizard defeated an Articuno?" She asked offhanded in a somehow mocking tone.

"What do you mean? It's a legendary Pokemon we're talking about" he said sounding rather annoyed not seeing her point.

"You know Ash has a Charizard of his own, who had done that"

"What?" he squeaked, he tried to state his doubts on the claim but was interrupted by her yet again.

"Have you defeated a Darkrai or a Regirock?"

He just stood there stunned which encouraged her to go on.

"How could you say Ash's weak when he had done that with his Sceptile."

She stepped forward with confidence leaking from her.

"Have you defeated a Latios or a Regice, 'O mighty Fire Master'?" She asked now totally in her zone refraining nothing to show her amusement.

He just listened with his eyes and mouth wide open. She turned to point towards Pikachu before continuing.

"Well that little Pikachu over there has done that." Steven and everyone else had their jaws on the floor up to this point. Nobody had known anything that she'd said. They turned to stare at the now flushed Pokemon Master to be with looks of awe and respect. They'll were broken out of their stupor when they heard the Champion continuing.

"How many Pokemons do you have?" she asked him.

He somehow gathered himself with that. At least now he had a chance to save a little dignity. He puffed his chest and said, "24" with a smirk.

But he was surprised to see that her smirk grew wider. She turned to face Ash who was now completely flustered due to her words. "Ash" She called him ever so softly with a huge smile. "How many Tauros do you have?"

He scratched his cheek with his finger nervously while saying, "ummm 30"

She turned to face Steven again with a mocking smug expression, who now held his head down, while the sounds of excited whispering could be heard from all around.

"And finally, what's your age?"

"20", he said in a low voice while still his head held down."

"Ash is 13 and has saved the world so many times, that you can't even imagine."

He just stayed silent which declared her the winner. She loosened a bit to face the now speechless crowd. "Is there anyone else, who thinks that 'my Ash' is a weakling?" No one made a sound to which she smiled. She turned to head towards Ash, grabbed him with his hand and started to lead him toward a shop. Ash on the other hand was blushing furiously. He was so embarrassed by her action and words that he wasn't even able to raise his head. But then a question crept to his mind.

"Hey Cynthia? How do you know about all that?"

She turned to him with a sly smile.

"Well I've done my research" She said with a wink.

"And what was 'my Ash' all about" Now it was her turn to blush as she cursed. She was completely sure that he hadn't noticed that. She looked away from him to stare at the path ahead.

"Well I guess that you've already figured out that everyone see us as a couple now. I thought it would be good for our training as people would give us privacy. So I kind of played along with it" She explained him.

Ash thought it made quite some sense so he nodded understandingly. To him it was nothing to which she sighed. At least he wasn't mad. She maintained silence for the whole walk and after a few minutes she finally broke it.

"We're here" She said with all the enthusiasm she previously held. He raised his head to see that it was a clothing shop. He sighed, shopping was really not his thing.

She once again pulled him into the shop and started to head towards the men's section, which confused Ash.

"What are we doing here Cynthia?" he asked her.

"We're getting you a new attire." She said while searching over the displayed clothes.

"But I don't need it" he told her with a lot of force. Hey he liked his clothes.

"Yeah but you have to" She said while doing her work.

"But why" he asked in a puzzled manner. She sighed and glanced over him to explain her point.

"It's necessary Ash, you see you're quite famous now, so if they see you in your present attire then, they would easily recognize you and then we'll have to deal with what happened earlier regularly." She noticed that he nodded understandingly.

"And besides, people think you as my boyfriend and to tell you the truth, you in this attire really make me feel old and hey am just 17. So we have to do something about that." She finished with a wink. 'And perhaps that way people won't call me a cradle robber. Meh... who cares what they think' she thought to herself with a sigh.

Ash blushed to the word 'boyfriend'. Though he knew it was just to show but couldn't help the awkward feeling about it.

"Here, try them on" She said while handing him some clothes. He sighed but obliged and went to the changing room. Pikachu was now waiting over Cynthia's shoulder as she petted him behind his ears. After a few minutes Ash showed up and what he got was an excited squeal from his buddy and a smirk from Cynthia as she said, "Perfect".

He was now wearing a grey Jeans with a grey muscle shirt and a black leather jacket. He had put on a pair of grey and black hiking shoes and had his cap off. He went back to the changing room and had to admit it, he was looking way older than before. He took his normal attire but remained in the new one as he was told by her.

He then headed to pay for the clothes but came to know that it was already done. He turned to Cynthia, "Come on Cynthia, I can buy my clothes" she waved him off to ensure him it wasn't as he was thinking.

"It's a gift from me. Yeah I know you can buy your stuff but I am allowed to give a gift to my apprentice, right?" She said playfully.

He smiled and nodded. "Yes Mistress" seeing no harm, he played along, before breaking into laughter which she joined.

"So now that it's been taken care of, should we head towards the airport?" She asked him to which he nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

After what seemed to be like years to Ash, they arrived at the airport with about two hours to spare before the flight. So Ash went to have some food while Cynthia left saying she had a business to take care of.

After about an hour, she returned to him. She handed him the boarding pass. He was now on the peak of his curiosity. He wanted to know where they were heading, which Cynthia realized.

"We're heading Rota" She informed him with a knowing smile.

"The Tree Of Beginning" Ash mumbled with his eyes wide open.

* * *

 **About an hour ago**.

"How are things turning out to be?" Asked a voice which seemed to belong an old man.

"Just as we planned, I've got him with me" replied another person, seeing how high her pitch was, it was obvious it belonged to a young woman.

"But I still don't understand why are we doing this to him?" Continued the woman. Doing nothing to hide her disapproval about the said plan.

"It's been already discussed, people of his kind are threat to the society. So it's our duty to save the society from the likes of him." He told her as a matter of factly.

"Just because he's an Aura guardian doesn't mean he deserves to suffer. How can you justify that, he's just a boy with some dreams to fulfill." She said raising her voice to almost yelling at the end.

"No more argument, just do what you're told. By the way what was the big idea of showing him as your boyfriend?"

"Are you questioning my decision?" the man could feel her eyes narrowing on the other end. Getting on her wrong side wasn't something that he wanted so he smartly tried to cool things off a bit and just let the topic slide.

"No, I am not" he paused a bit, "Just remember your mission is to take him away from the society for some time. He's kind of become a hero in public view and it seems like my decision of using him to destroy his will didn't work. I had thought he would be broken and give up but." She smirked at his obvious irritation. Deciding to juice the most out of the moment, she replied in a sing song way.

"I told you" She mocked him. She had to stifle a giggle as she could practically see him twitching off irritation.

"Yes, so now that you've volunteered for the mission, see to it that it's a success"

"You don't have to worry about it, I'll take care of Ash" She said confidently.

"Good." The old man said seemingly satisfied with her reply as he hung up the phone.

She sighed before rubbing her temples to shake the small ache that had formed due to the conversation, "Ohh… Don't you worry old man, I'll take care of Ash" She said to herself and then she closed her eyes and soon her frown turned into a smile as the image of a grinning raven haired boy formed in her mind.

"Ash"

* * *

 ** _Author's note_ :** _So guys first of all I would like to apologize for the late upload but past few days, well they were just awful. I was hospitalised and the doc said that its a case of acute stress. So I was told to do things I like the most and guess what here I AM 3. Anyways I would like to thank all of you for your support and reviews (Especially Ayush and ChloboShoka)_ **. I actually wanted to ask all of you guys something, do you want me to give you some training events or I could give them later as flashbacks whenever needed, to create some suspense.** SO I leave the choice to you guys or I'll go with the second plot. Anyways what do you think about the 5th chapter. xD Next chapter would be out by 26th, till then peace out :P xD


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6: Kalos; Where The Journey Begins**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I Don't own nothing**_ **-_-**

 ** _A/N_ : _Re-edited on June 30, 2017_**

* * *

It was a new day in Veniville town; a beautiful town that is far from any hustle or bustle of the cities. It was another quiet and bright morning and people and their Pokémon were setting up for the adventures the day would bring to them.

"Fletchling" cooed a little bird Pokémon as she made her way through the window into a house.

"Fletchling wake up Serena for me, will you?" said a soft voice which obviously belonged to a woman.

"Of course I tried once, but as usual once is never enough" She huffed, sounding really annoyed and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fletch~ling" she said while nodding slightly before flapping her little wings to take off. She made her way up the stairs to stand in front of a door which was slightly open. She struggled to get past the small peak but managed to do so with a little effort.

"Ling~" she then approached the bed to stand over a sleeping girl, who would be anywhere near 15.

Fletchling approached her head and pecked her awake. "Aah" the girl screamed in pain and surprise as she is rudely awaken. The scream was loud enough to be heard from a distance which assured Grace that her daughter was awake, as she smirked.

"Good, looks like we're all ready to go" she said to herself with a little amusement.

Serena threw herself out of her bed to give a death glare to the little bird with her bright blue eyes. "I've told you a million times not to wake me up like this" She complained in a high pitch.

"Fletch" the little bird Pokémon tilted her head to give an innocent expression but Serena didn't appear to buy it as she rushed towards her to try and catch her but falls over and the little bird lands on her head, which further annoyed her.

"Serena, time for morning training" In came her mother's voice as she puffed her cheeks. She really hated this training of her. It just wasn't her thing, but she didn't have a choice in the matter as she had complained a lot of time beforehand, so she had to agree. She approached to the windows to open her blinds and greeted her mother's Rhyhorn.

The cool morning breeze caressing your face can brighten anyone's mood and she wasn't any exception, her frown turned into a soft smile as she run her fingers through her hair.

"Hope today's interesting" she said as Fletchling flies off towards the sky.

* * *

"I thought you would be excited" said a brunette who appeared to be in her early twenties. She had green eyes and had a lizard type Pokémon, sitting on her laps.

"huh, what do you mean" came the confused reply from a certain raven haired teen who had a Pikachu resting on his left shoulder. He was quite puzzled about the question.

"We're starting a brand new adventure" he paused a bit to glance out of the window. It was a beautiful scenario, it was water all around with sunlight striking it to add to its charm.

"There's nothing more exciting to a Pokémon trainer" he told her with an enthusiastic smile.

"Well it doesn't look like so" she told him in a very soft voice.

"Maybe I don't know you too well, but I can tell when you're tensed Ash." She turned to look into his eyes but he averted his gaze to prevent it. She sighed slightly.

"What is it?" She leaned a bit to him.

He turned to her with a reassuring smile. "Believe me, it's nothing Alexa. Just thinking about something."

The now identified Alexa knew it wasn't that simple but decided to let it be. She nodded slightly to which he sighed in relief. He turned his gaze to look towards the approaching land and his expression turned into one showing sheer determination. "I'll prove her wrong" he thought to himself.

It has been a little more than two years since the Sinnoh league in which Ash had made it to the semi-finals. He had grown a couple of inches but he didn't look like a kid anymore. He always contained a composed expression on his face. He wasn't that skinny as before because of all the vigorous training. But the same couldn't be said about his appearance. He still had the same look, same hair, same cap and jacket as he had during the Sinnoh league. The only thing that changed was his eyes, they still had that warm depth in them but now they also showed immense confidence; enough to shake anyone.

Soon the plane landed and the moment he stepped out of it, he found an amazing energy. The same he hadn't felt for quite a time now. The same he always used to feel whenever he was to battle someone or whenever he had to help someone. He was well how to say it, psyched.

"This is it buddy, let's show everyone what we've got. Let's show her" he almost whispered the last part but Pikachu seemed to get it and nuzzled his trainer to try and sooth him down. He chuckled to his action and nuzzled him back.

"So let's go to your sister Alexa, the first thing I want to do is challenge a gym for a battle." He turned behind to look for the older woman.

"It's right that Viola's a gym leader but she's the gym leader of Santalune City, not Lumiose."

"Whaat?" he whined with disappointment to which she chuckled. It was really good to see him act like this. She shook her head before placing her hands on her hip.

"Hang on I'll go and call her. I'll meet you boys in the lobby" she rushed the moment she told them.

Though he was disappointed but his mood was brightened up the moment he saw the native Pokémon. He watched them all with 'awe' as he made his way to the lobby. The moment they entered the lobby, Alexa's Helioptile rushed to them and Ash picked him up.

"Hey Ash" She called him as she rushed towards them.

"Alexa, so how did it go?" he asked her while petting Helioptile.

"Well ummm….. I was able to get through this sister of mine and she made me know that she isn't at her gym right now and the thing is whenever she's out, she's out for long." She told him hesitantly.

"huh?" he blinked a bit, before shrugging.

"I'm sorry Ash, I know how bad you wanted it after coming all this way. Please forgive me" she pleaded while clasping her hands together to pray for forgiveness.

"It's quite alright, Alexa. It's not your fault, you don't have to be sorry." He told her in a really calm manner.

"Huh, really?" She was quite surprised, from what she had heard from Cynthia, he wasn't like that. He had never been that calm, especially about a gym battle.

"Yeah, but I still hope I could challenge a gym though." He told her sounding quite disappointed.

"Hey I know, why don't you challenge the Lumiose gym?"

"Now we're talking, do you know where we could find it?" He lightened up instantly.

"Yeah, it's in the Prism tower. It's located in the center of the city and believe me you won't miss it" she informed him with a wink in the end.

"Great, thanks a lot for everything Alexa"

She gave him a wide smile and extended her hand to him, which he took the next moment with a smile of his own.

"Well, it was really fun being with you Ash."

"See you soon"

He nodded enthusiastically, "You bet"

She gave him a one last fond smile before turning to leave. He waved her bye before heading to the prism tower.

* * *

"I guess we're here buddy" he paused for a bit to look at the gigantic building, "Alexa was right when she said we won't miss it" he said while admiring the tower.

"Pi~" Pikachu nodded to admit it.

"Well let's see what the gym leader's made up of" They entered the tower and took a path that lead to a closed steel door. There were vacuum tubes all around with plasma coursing in them which gave it a science fiction expression. It was obvious to them that it was an electric type gym and the fact psyched Pikachu further. He was more than excited to show them the real strength of an electric type.

"Welcome to the Lumiose City Gym" said a robotic voice.

"My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm from Pallet town in the Kanto region and I'm here to challenge the leader to an official gym battle."

"How many badges do you possess?" Asked the voice.

"Well I don't have any" Ash told it while blinking a bit.

"What? You don't have a single?" The robotic voice sounded totally surprised with the response.

"Yeah, you see I just arrived in Kalos and this is the first gym I'm challenging." Ash said while excitement leaking from his voice.

"I'm sorry but in order to challenge the Lumiose gym, you need to acquire at least 4 badges" the robotic voice said as two antenna emerged from the walls with electricity sparkling from them.

"Wait what does that mean~" Ash was trying to oppose when he was shocked and the panel under him slid away. He was thrown outside the building and a big fall was waiting for him as they were quite high above the ground. He clenched Pikachu to his chest made his balance and did a perfect flip and landed gracefully. A few people watched him in awe and few even clapped.

"Are you alright buddy" he asked looking at the little mouse Pokémon with concern. Pikachu assured him and took his usual place on his shoulder. Ash glanced towards the gym. He had never seen anything like this. He didn't know you have to win certain amount of badges to challenge some gym and the behaviour was the worst part. Someone could have been hurt by the fall, even he could have been hurt if it wasn't for all the training he did. They didn't know that someone was watching them though.

"Some gym leader" he shrugged his shoulders and began to head away from it.

* * *

After walking a couple of minutes they found themselves in a garden. It was situated near the tower and they decided to take a rest before they head towards the Pokémon Centre as it was really quiet.

They took a seat under a tree. Both of them were lying on their backs and were watching the passing clouds. But the calmness was just for a moment as a huge explosion was heard. It wasn't from very far, in fact it occurred in the same garden.

"Did you hear it too Pikachu" Ash said while throwing himself up and assessing their surroundings.

Pikachu nodded and started to rush to the direction of the sound. Ash was quick to follow him and after running for a few yards, they found the exact reason for all the commotion. Ash couldn't even suppress the groan that followed. It was the usual trio, they had a robotic meowth or something and it had a rabbit Pokémon in its clutches.

He also saw two blond kids, Older was a boy of somewhere around 14 and had put on glasses while the younger was a girl who looked like being around 9 or 10. He concluded that the Pokémon would belong to them. Being Ash, it was obvious that he couldn't leave them like that, it just wasn't like him. So he decided to go and lend them hand but froze in his path as another Pokémon broke into the battle. It looked like a frog and Ash was more than impressed to see the charisma of the small Pokémon.

Yes it looked powerful, but the villains were proving to be his match as he was struck by the mechanical arm. This was it, he couldn't watch any longer, so he decided to show himself.

"Not you guys again" he gave an annoyed groan. Pikachu leapt forward and took a defensive stance.

"Well, look what do we have here" said a woman with long red hair.

"It's the twerp and he's got Pikachu with him" said a cat like Pokémon.

"Really Jessie, James, Meowth? I thought you guys were over with this but so much for asking." He said while shaking his head in a disappointed manner.

"Well now that you're here, we'll take Pikachu with us" said James.

"Hey! These people are really dangerous! You should probably get away or else they could hurt you" warned the boy but Ash smirked, "oh really" he thought to himself.

"Just who are you people" Shouted the younger girl, she had glimpses of tears in her eyes. She loved Pokémon too much and to see them getting hurt was too much for her.

"Well now that you ask little twerpette, let me introduce us" said Jessie with a huge smirk.

"Prepare for troub…." She was cut in between by Ash, "They are bad people, who steal other people's Pokémon" He told them with a sigh.

"Hey! how dare you interfere our introduction." Shouted Jessie while waving her hands frantically.

He sighed again. "Please spare us" he said sarcastically.

"Pikachu you know what to do" Pikachu rushed to the claw that had captured the rabbit Pokémon and destroyed it with just an iron tail. Both the Blonde kid's watched in awe as Pikachu did the same to all its limbs.

"Now finish it up buddy" he said while picking the weakened Pokémon up and handing it to the boy in such a casual manner that it seemed that he was walking in a park (Well technically he was).

With his command Pikachu charged all his electricity up and unleashed it towards the trio.

"Wobbuffet do something" Jessie released him desperately and he did his job as he jumped in between the projectile of the attack and was able to return it using his special attack, 'Mirror coat'. But still the attack proved to be too much for him to handle and he was knocked back to his team engulfed in lightening and due to which the mechanical Meowth exploded and team Rocket was blasted off again.

However, the blondes gasped in fear as they watched the amplified electricity approach the little mouse Pokémon. Ash clenched his fist too as he knew it was too late to dodge it as Pikachu was too close but he knew it won't even faze him. But to everyone's surprise the downed frog type Pokémon jumped in front of Pikachu to take the attack head on.

Ash knew it would've been a strong hit and being a water type, it was far worse for him. He rushed towards him to see that he was out cold, but to his relief he was breathing. Both the blondes rushed towards him too to see if he was alright.

"Awww poor Froakie" said the little girl with tears now tripping from her cheeks. The older blonde tried to comfort her but it didn't seem to work.

"He'll be alright" he assured her with the biggest smile he could muster but then he turned to look at the boy with a serious expression. "He needs help, where's the Pokémon Centre?"

"It's very far from here, we should take him to the Professor's laboratory" he told him. Ash nodded understandingly.

"Alright we should move" he told them as the young girl rushed in a direction. He followed her the exact moment. "Don't worry little thing, we won't let anything happen to you" Ash whispered to the Weakened Froakie. The Froakie seemed to be listening and cuddled slightly to his chest.

* * *

"Is the Professor here? I need him right now" Ash yelled the moment he entered the lab.

"Yes I am" In came a man with grey hair and a lab coat. He was yawning but the moment he saw the injured Pokémon, he rushed towards them.

"Froakie, what happened to you?"

"What you know this Froakie?" asked Ash sounding little confused.

"Yes certainly" He called his assistant and asked her to take the Froakie to the curing room. He assured everyone that he would be alright as her assistant was the very best in what she did. Ash sighed in relief as the professor went to check on him leaving him alone with the little girl. They had left the other boy behind as he was slowing them down.

Ash was worried about her, no one of her age should have witnessed that. He knew she was scared as she was still sniffing. He leaned to her and placed a hand on her head. She looked up in instincts to see a smiling Ash.

"Hey there's no need to worry, you heard what professor said right? He would be alright" Ash said in the most soothing way he could have.

"B… But he's hurt really bad" she said while still crying softly.

"Hey brave girls don't cry and I know you're brave." He dropped to his knees to get to her eye level as she was sitting on a chair.

"How do you know am brave, if am crying" she asked him while sobbing.

He smiled brightly and took out a hand kerchief from his pocket. "I know you're brave… sorry what's your name?"

"Bo… Bonnie" he then grabbed her leg and started to rub it with his handkerchief. She was puzzled about his actions but then she realized that she was bleeding. Maybe she hurt herself when they were attacked.

"Well, I know you're brave because you helped me save that little guy despite of the fact that you were hurt yourself."

Bonnie blushed a bit but his words made her feel safe. So she loosened up a bit as he covered the scratch with a band aid.

"There" he said as he stood up and Pikachu leaped onto the lap of Bonnie. "Well if Pikachu likes you then you love Pokémon as much as I do."

Now she couldn't help but smile. It was true that she loved Pokémon and to hear it from someone else was a different thing. "I am Ash, by the way was that other boy your brother?"

"Yeah he is. His name is Clemont." She said while lightening up a bit. To his name, he entered the lab still trying to catch his breath.

"Big brother" She squealed as she rushed to him.

"Is the Froakie alright" he asked while still huffing.

"He is indeed, thanks to all of you. I am Professor Sycamore and would like to present my earnest gratitude for doing that." Said the professor.

"So professor, how do you know this Froakie?" Ash asked him.

"I know him because, he's been with me for quite a while now. You see Froakie is a starter Pokémon presented to the new trainers in the Kalos region and this Froakie was given too but was returned to me several times." He told him sounding disappointed, Ash however picked something up.

"You mean more than once, but why?" he asked him. He was really surprised how could that be possible?

"You see that this certain Froakie is known to disobey his trainer's orders and sometimes he returns himself if he doesn't like his trainer."

"Poor Froakie" exclaimed Clemont.

Seeing the mood dampening, professor tried to change the subject. "So what's your names?" the trick seemed to work as they introduced themselves. But when Ash introduced himself both Clemont and Professor seemed to remember something.

"Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, I've heard about that but where?" he said to himself.

"Ash are you famous?" Asked Bonnie while leaning a bit to him.

Ash sweat dropped and told them otherwise nervously. He didn't want to talk about his past right now. They all seemed to get over it as a Garchomp entered the laboratory. He looked really upset about the Froakie and was looking at him through the glass with a frown.

"Meet Garchomp, he's my partner and I have to admit he is really kind hearted, but I might warn you he doesn't like anyone but me touching him" Professor told them as he petted him on his head.

Ash assured him that he had nothing to worry about Froakie and mimicked the actions of the Professor, everyone was alerted when Ash went to touch him but to everyone's surprise he accepted it.

"This Boy" Professor thought to himself.

"Well I want to do that too" Bonnie squealed but the moment it tried to touch him, he growled loudly which scared her.

"I'm sorry about that Bonnie, we have a lots of other Pokémon whom you could play with. You want to meet them?" he asked while leaning to her.

"Yeah I do I do" she said excitedly.

"Are you coming Ash?" Clemont asked him as he caught him going to the curing room.

"I'll catch you up in a minute" Clemont nodded and left with professor and her younger sister.

Ash entered the room to stand aside the weakened Pokémon. He thought he was out cold but little did he know that he wasn't.

"Hey Froakie. Thanks for saving Pikachu out there. I don't know how anyone could return a Pokémon like you. I think you're amazing and I haven't seen a lot of Pokémon who can risk their life for the sake of others. Just don't worry about anything, you'll find a trainer that is worthy of you and that's a promise." He whispered while kneeling to the lying figure before turning to leave.

Soon he joined the others at the research facility. There were a lots of Pokémon he didn't know about but the moment he tried to take a look in his Pokedex, he realised it wouldn't help him. He sighed and marched to the others. Clement and Professor were chatting while Bonnie was busy trying to catch a Pokémon. Ash giggled when the little girl dove to catch it but the Pokémon slipped away and she puffed her cheeks. He headed towards the two men and took a seat next to Clemont.

"So Professor, what are you studying here?" asked Clemont while adjusting his glasses.

"Well, it's a phenomenon called Mega Evolution" told the Professor.

"Mega Evolution?" Clemont blinked a bit while Ash's gaze became sceptical.

"Well what are you going to say if I tell you that a Pokémon can further evolve after reaching his final form?"

Clemont's jaw dropped while Ash remained neutral which the professor noticed.

"You aren't too surprised Ash. Does that mean you've seen mega evolution before?" He asked him with showing great interest.

Ash face palmed, sure he had seen mega evolution but he couldn't just tell them that he had ridden a Mega Latios. He tried to think a way out of that.

"Yeah I have. I've seen a mega Garchomp." He told them and it wasn't a lie as he had really seen one.

"Really? Where? Whom did it belong to?" he asked with so much excitement that made Ash sweat dropped. Professor's weren't supposed to act as if they were a kid left in a candy store.

"Well 'she' is the 'partner' of someone I know but I couldn't tell you the name. She likes her privacy." He made an extra emphasis on 'she' and 'partner'. He never liked when anyone would call a Pokémon by 'it' and it was even worse if someone would think that a Pokémon belong to them. They are just as free as them. Though he knew he didn't mean that, he was just too excited.

"Oh I see" The professor was really disappointed. He really wanted to meet that person so that he could do some analysis over the Mega Garchomp.

Clemont was about to say something when a sound of explosion was heard. Soon the woman who was curing Froakie appeared and by the looks on her face, everyone figured out that something wasn't right.

"What is it Sophie? What was that noise" asked the professor in a very worried tone.

"It's Garchomp, some people broke in and tried to take him with them but something went wrong and now he is destroying the whole place." She informed them while trying to catch her breath.

The group rushed toward the scenario to see that the people who were trying to take Garchomp were none other than team rocket. Ash was furious. Why can't they just leave him alone? He was about to ask Pikachu to take care of them but couldn't as a powerful hyper beam blasted them away. His rage turned into pity the moment he realised the power behind the attack. The situation was bad, he could sense it. When professor tried to calm Garchomp down he shot another hyper beam but this time towards his partner. He was too shocked to react and if it wouldn't been for Ash, who pushed him away the last moment, he could've been hurt seriously.

Ash narrowed his glare to the threatening dragon. Something was wrong, he seemed to be very friendly just a couple of minutes ago. He knew team rocket was behind it but couldn't figure out how. He managed to take a look to his eyes and they were bloody red and he was twitching as if he was in pain. Professor tried to talk to him the moment he gathered himself up but he just flew through the ceiling.

"This is bad we have to stop him, or else he would destroy the whole city." Said the professor.

"Don't worry we'll help him" Ash assured him before running towards the dragon Pokémon. The group tried to stop him as it was too dangerous but being Ash, he couldn't turn away to a Pokémon who need his help. He was surprised to see that Froakie had joined him. Though he was impressed with the little Pokémon's determination but he knew he needed rest, he was in no place to fight. He even tried to talk him leave but he was as persistent as him so he tagged along.

The situation was getting worse as the dragon type was getting more violent. He was firing hyper beams after hyper beams without any considerations. He even tried to shot a news helicopter down which had gotten too close to him.

When Ash made it to him, he was standing at the top of the Prism tower. He clenched his fist when he saw him firing at the news helicopter. He knew he was really dangerous at the moment but he needed help. He took a look toward the tower and was able to find a way up. It was the maintenance stairs. He rushed towards them and started to climb up. Gasps and awes took over the place when people saw a boy scaling the building.

"We're reporting live from the Prism tower of the Lumiose City, where a Garchomp has gone crazy." The reporter paused to try and maintain her balance as the pilot tried to avoid an incoming attack.

"As you can see the Pokémon has gone wild and is firing hyper beams everywhere, something's got to be done."

* * *

"Serena come have a look at this" called Grace. She was watching the whole scenario through the television.

"See what you've done to me" Serena entered the room while complaining. She had scratched her nose by taking a fall during the training session. Grace sweat dropped and gave her an apologetic look. Serena was still furious but was very intrigued about the commotion.

Till then Ash had made it to the ceiling of the tower and tried to calm him down but he fired a hyper beam towards him before flying to the very top of the tower, which he barely managed to dodge. Serena took a place next to her mother.

The news reporters noticed that someone was trying to calm that rampaging Pokémon down and decided to cover him. Now everyone was able to see him.

"I wonder if he's that Garchomp's trainer" Grace said to herself. Serena didn't say a thing. She didn't even hear what her mother was saying. She was just looking at him with pure amazement.

Till the point the group had arrived to the Prism tower. They were all very worried, they didn't want Ash to be hurt. They were just praying that he hadn't done anything stupid but the moment they saw him scaling to the top of the tower, they realised they were too late.

Soon Ash made it to the top of the tower. The Garchomp was still there screaming in agony. He knew he was in pain, he could see that in his eyes.

"Hey Garchomp, calm down. We're here to help you. I know it hurts but please let me do something for you. Please you have to trust me just let me help you." Ash said while trying to get closer to him.

The Garchomp seemed to calm down for a moment but then some sparks emerged from the collar that he was wearing around his neck and he shrieked in agony. Ash realised that the collar was the reason behind this behavior, it must be hurting him. He tried to get to him but the Pokemon shrieked in pain and stumbled back to the edge of the tower, almost falling over.

Froakie however used his frubbles to stick his feet to the tower to which Ash sighed in relief. He knew that was his chance, he leaped towards the suffering dragon type and grabbed him in an embrace. He was trying to hold him long enough for Pikachu to do his thing.

"Pikachu now Iron tail on the collar" Pikachu seemed to know exactly what he was about to ask him as he was already in the air with his tail glowing sliver. He smashed the collar in two with a perfect hit.

Garchomp calmed down the moment the collar was off. He dropped onto his knees due to the exhaustion but apart from that he was alright. Relieved, that he and Garchomp were alright both Pikachu and Froakie dashed towards them but as if luck would have it, the edge of the tower under Pikachu's feet collapsed.

Everything paused for Pikachu at the moment. He was about to fall from the top of the tower and he knew he wouldn't make it. He closed his eyes to accept his fate but then he felt someone holding him. But he didn't know how, he was in mid-air and there was no way someone could have caught him. He opened his eyes to see that Ash had caught him. His eye widened in horror as he realised his Pikapi was going to die because of him. He tried to look at his face and was surprised to see a grinning Ash before he was clenched to the latter's chest. He cuddled himself as close as he could and waited for it all to end.

Serena gasped in horror, just like everyone. Clemont however was trying to comfort his little sister when the incident took place. He looked above the moment he heard all the commotion and almost lost his wits. How could someone do that? Bonnie noticed her brother's state and she cried Ash's name the moment she realised what he had done. Everyone averted their gaze from the scenario, none of them wanted to see a young boy and his Pokémon die before them but that never happened.

Out of nowhere, a giant Pokémon came in flying and caught them just before the impact. Ash opened his eyes to see what was going on and the moment he saw the giant dragon holding them, he realised that they weren't going to die. But the moment he realised who their saviour exactly was, a frown crawled up his face.

"Ash, Pikachu" the group rushed to them, the moment they had landed. The Pokémon however left the moment Ash had hit the ground to which Ash sighed in relief. Everybody was cheering for the brave boy to have saved the city but not quite all of them.

"Are you Crazy? What do you think you were doing?" Bonnie scolded them. It was quite a hilarious scene to watch a 9 years old girl scolding a teenager.

"Umm I'm sorry" Ash apologised nervously while rubbing the back of his neck to which she narrowed her glare.

"Are you alright Buddy?" Ash took a look at Pikachu from all the different angles. He wasn't hurt at all but he sure was scared. He had almost cost his best friend's life. He crawled up to his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek apologetically. Ash smiled and nuzzled him back. "Hey it's alright buddy, I am fine really"

"That was a Mega Garchomp" squealed the professor. "I don't know who was with it but I'm relieved that person showed up." Both Clemont and Bonnie sighed in relief before turning their attention towards the duo, Pikachu was still nuzzling Ash and he was chuckling heartedly. They both couldn't help but smile at the scene before them. It was obvious that they were too close to be separated. And if the stunt from earlier was to considered, they were too close for even death to separate them.

* * *

"Oh what a relief" Serena sighed in relief to see that the young trainer wasn't hurt. She had never seen anything like this. Someone literally throwing his life to be with his Pokémon was something that she couldn't even think about. But soon confusion took over her place as a close up of him and Pikachu is shown on the television.

"That boy. No it couldn't be?" she asked herself while trying to remember a certain someone from the past.

* * *

"I hope you had some sleep with all that mess around" asked professor Sycamore while giving an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry we had a good one" Ash assured him while Pikachu gave an affirming squeak.

"I take it as you don't have a Kalos Pokedex yet, right Ash?" Ash confirmed his theory.

"Here, make good use of it." Professor Sycamore handed him an official Kalos region Pokedex. "I hope you have a great journey"

"Thanks for everything professor, see you later" Ash turned around to leave when something sticky smashed to his face.

He came to realize that it was Froakie, he had a pokeball with him. He pushed the Pokeball with his head slightly towards him.

"I think he wants to go with you Ash" proposed the professor.

"It's amazing that he chose you as his trainer" Clemont said while adjusting his glasses sounding quite impressed.

"Wow, its sooo cute. Froakie likes Ash so much that he wants to go with him." Bonnie squealed with stars twinkling in her eyes.

Ash chuckled to all the reactions. "Do you think so?" he kneeled to his level picked the Pokeball up. He looked at the water type starter with a genuine smile. "You want to come with us Froakie?" he asked him but despite of answering, the frog Pokémon hopped and pressed the Pokeball and thus capturing himself. He gave Ash a last smile with a tilted head before doing so.

"Great to have you Buddy, we'll get stronger together" Ash whispered to the Pokeball which shook in response.

He stood up with a bright smile but soon it faded as he recalled the last day. His smile faded the moment he ran a thought about their saviour.

"It was her" he thought to himself.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note_ : Hey guys am feeling way better, so I was able to complete the next chapter. I would like to apologize though as I had promised to do the same by 26th but the thing is I couldnt. :'( But I really appreciate all of your support, guess what we've already reached almost 50 followers and I want to thank all of you for that. :D**

 **I know you all have a lots of questions in your minds but believe me they would all be answered within a few chapters. Next few chapters are going to do big revealations and yeah Amourshipping from the next chapter! YAY! xD _Forgive me if the chapter seemed to be like the exact copy of the anime but I felt that It was the best introduction pokemon had ever given so I kindaa played along._**

 **Well I dont have much to do for this month, so lemme assure you that there would be much frequent uploads. _Next chapter would be out really soon and yeah, DO tell me how you felt about this chapter, btw thanks for all the reviews till now. Believe me I would consider each and every one of them as I appreciate each and every one of them._ :) Till then, Peace out.**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7 : "Tying Knots"**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon**_

 _ **A/N : Re-edited on July 2, 2017**_

* * *

"So what now Ash?"

"I don't know Clemont..." He paused and placed his palm on his chin, "Maybe I'll head to the Pokémon Centre first, I still got to register for the league after all. But the only problem's that we don't know where it is"

"We'll show you" Bonnie volunteered instantly.

"That would be great" Ash accepted while giving her the brightest smile.

With that, the new formed group hit the road to the Pokémon Centre. Bonnie was leading the group while Ash and Clemont trailed a bit.

"Is it just me or everyone is staring at us?" Clemont asked nervously.

"Yeah you're right Big Brother." Bonnie admitted too. She raised her head to look at Ash for an answer but he was ever neutral. It didn't seem to bother him a bit.

"Just ignore them" he told the siblings while tilting his cap a bit to cover his eyes. He was used to all that exposure but still he was cursing himself inwardly. "Couldn't even spend a day without making it to the front page" he cursed his luck and sighed mentally.

Seeing Ash acting so calm and casual didn't help the other two though. They were starting to get uneasy as Bonnie tugged his brother's shirt and never letting it go till they made it to the Centre.

The siblings sighed in relief the moment they made it to the Pokémon Centre but little did they know that it was just getting started. Ash made it to the counter and greeted Nurse Joy.

"Welcome Mr. Ketchum, may I help you with something." Joy asked while giving the warmest smile she could maneuver.

"Wait how do you know his name?" Bonnie jumped in with a blink. Ash let out a nervous chuckle while Joy tried to control her own.

"Well everyone does and if you want to know how, take a look behind you" she answered the little girl sweetly while pointing to the television set.

Bonnie turned to see what she meant but the moment she turned she understood everything. Last night's incident was being broadcasted.

"Oh right, now I get it." Clemont said with a small chuckle of his own.

"Wow Ash you've become a hero" Bonnie squeaked and it turned out to be a really bad Idea as it gathered everyone's attention. They all gasped and turned to mention of the name and they all were more than excited to see the boy who saved their city. Ash, Joy and Clemont face palmed in unison, they all knew what was going to follow that. After about 15 minutes, the crowd died down, to which Ash sighed in relief. He was pretty exhausted with all the commotion. He was thanked repeatedly while letting him know how big of a hero he was, while kids asked him for photos and autographs. Some of the girls were still there, staring at him dreamingly from a distance.

Bonnie realized that it was her fault and decided to apologize for her actions. "I'm sorry Ash, I didn't know…" she was stopped by Ash as he placed his hand on her head with and assuring nod. "It's alright, just be careful next time. After all I'm quite used to all this." He told her while rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah it's not the first time for him after all" Nurse Joy joined the conversation and the moment she looked up to Ash, she realized that she had said something she wasn't supposed to.

"What? Does that mean you're famous Ash?" Bonnie squeaked again while leaning to him.

"Bonnie~" Clemont moaned making her realize she had done that again. "Oops sorry" she apologized while clasping her hands over her mouth before giving a sheepish look. Ash gave her a nervous laugh while turning to face Joy.

"Well anyways, I was here to register for the Kalos league though." Ash told her to which she blinked in confused manner.

"But you are already registered." She told him while tilting her head slightly.

"But I just made it to the Kalos region, how could that be possible. Who could've done that?" he asked her looking ever so confused, though he had some idea.

"I think you know precisely who did that" she said with a wink to finish. Ash frowned to realize whom she was referring to. He still didn't know why she was doing this for him. Everyone watched him contemplate something, the frown never leaving his features. He stayed like that for a few moments before nodding understandingly. She smiled before handing him a badge case and a Golden card.

"What is that?" he asked her while raising an eyebrow referring to the golden card.

"It's a Golden membership card. With this you have access to each and every service that is provided by the league, including Pokémon centre, hotel and travelling expenses and everything else you could ever think of." She paused a bit to look at him in the eyes, "It's a good luck gift from the same person who registered you"

Ash's frown increased to a level beyond comprehension. While Bonnie and Clemont both stood there with stupefied expressions on their faces. But then Clemont seemed to realize something.

"Isn't that the same card provided to the Champions?" he asked while adjusting his glasses, to which Joy nodded admittedly.

"But who is that person?" Bonnie asked Ash while tugging his shirt. Ash had to groan mentally. He really didn't want to talk about his past right now.

"I don't know Bonnie" he lied to her but with such innocence that she had to buy it, he turned to face joy who now had a frown on her face. Seeing the look on her face he sighed deeply. "I'll keep it though, just in case" Joy's expression changed instantly, she was told that he might not accept it but she was delighted to see the otherwise.

"Good, now I should wish you luck for your journey and yeah thanks a lot for what you did to save our city" Ash thanked her for her kindness before turning to leave. No one missed her lingering gaze on him until they were out of her field of vision.

"You're quite popular in girls don't you think?" Bonnie nudged Ash trying to tease him.

"Well I don't think that's a good thing Bonnie" he said while chuckling nervously.

"Of course it is. You don't have to work hard to find a girl like Big brother."

"Hey~~" Bonnie giggled heartedly, "Seriously Big brother I'll have to find you a girl in the end." She scolded before huffing in irritation.

"At least he has you" Ash said smoothly while looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Yeah, but I won't be forever with him. So it's my mission to find a keeper for Clemont." "Bonnie~" That was it, Clemont used his mechanical arm to grab and escort her out of the embarrassing conversation. All the while mumbling about something like nosy siblings.

It was right though. He had gotten quite popular with girls. Well it wasn't a good thing though as he was always the one being stared at. "Only if I had some Privacy" he muttered to himself. But the moment he had said those words, he regretted it. He knew that the person who had registered him for the league and left that card for him was none other than her. But the question is, why was she doing that? He shook his head to throw her off his mind and shrugged a bit.

* * *

The group reached to the exit of the centre where Ash halted and turned to face his new found friends with small sad smile. The most difficult part of a journey was about to come, saying farewell.

"Well I guess this is it then." He said while looking at them sadly.

Clemont tried to say something but couldn't find the words, so he just nodded. Bonnie however had her head held down with her hands clenched into fists, as if she was going to start crying any moment.

Ash noticed that they were both really upset about leaving him, especially Bonnie. He knew it shouldn't be that hard, after all they had just met but to see the otherwise was actually quite wild. He too had bonded with the siblings quite deeply especially the younger blonde. He didn't know why but something in her made him feel happy. Maybe it was due to her bubbly personality or it was due to the fact that she made him feel as if he was looking at his own younger self. He did understand what they wanted though. They wanted to go with him and then he remembered that he had done the same mistake before. It was with Misty, he hadn't realized that she wanted to continue her travel with him but he was too stupid to see that back then and was only able to find it when he was told by Brock hence ending up hurting her. And now he wasn't going to repeat the same mistake with them.

"Hey Clemont" Clemont looked at him instantly with the mention of his name.

"Yeah Ash?"

"What are planning to do now?" he asked while scratching behind Pikachu's ears who was at his usual place.

"Well um, I don't know" he answered nervously. Honestly he wanted to travel with him. By meeting him, it felt like he could provide him the thing that he was looking for. It may seem wild but he had developed immense respect for him in such a small time and the only thing he wanted to do now was to follow him.

Ash smirked to the response. He closed his eyes as the smirk on his face changed into a warm smile.

"Well if that's the case" They both immediately perked up to see what he had to say. Hoping beyond hope that he would say what they thought he would.

"Why don't you come with me? We can have a lots of fun together." They both were shocked and stood frozen to their places. Yeah they hoped that he would ask them to go with them but they had never thought he would actually ask them to join him, someone like him. Ash knew what their responses would be and was more than pleased with himself for having done the right thing.

"Yay!" Bonnie squealed and she was so excited that she dashed and tackled Ash into a hug. Which he returned while chuckling softly.

"Well I got one answer, what about you Clemont?" he asked him while turning his gaze to the older blonde. His mention helped him recover from his shock as he tried to contain his excitement.

"That would be great Ash. I hope we won't be a burden to you" he said while his eyes shining in excitement. Ash chuckled to his words.

"Of course you won't" he assured him as Bonnie finally let go of him.

"Ash you're the best" she squeaked, "We're going to have so much fun and we'll see a lot of cute Pokémon too."

"Yeah that's for sure" he assured her while turning to Clemont.

"So now let's get going" he said to which both the blondes nodded happily.

* * *

"Where are we going Ash?" Bonnie asked while playing with Pikachu who was in her arms at the moment.

"Well, we're going to Santalune city for my first gym battle." He told her while looking at the path ahead him.

"Gym battles are so cool" she squealed.

"I've heard that Santalune City's gym leader is really strong." Clemont said from his place at the end of the group. He had been continuously lagging from the very beginning.

"Well, we'll have to find that out ourselves and she being strong, well we won't have it any other way. Right Buddy?"

"Pika" Pikachu gave a fist pump from his newly instated second favorite place to show his excitement.

"You look pretty confident Ash, you must be really strong" Bonnie squealed the last part.

Ash let out a nervous chuckle, "You think so?" he asked in the most innocent manner with a tilt of his head, to which she gave a big "Yupp!"

"How do you know that the Gym leader's a 'she'" Clemont asked while halting in his path. Ash sweat dropped to the question. He really need to learn to keep his mouth shut. He was talking way too much.

"Well I've heard" he told them while laughing awkwardly. Clemont decided not to bug too much about it and left it right there.

* * *

Our heroes were making their way through a forest which would lead them to the Santalune City. Bonnie was still leading the group while Clemont and Ash were following her while talking about some Type-related advantages and disadvantages. They stopped though, as their leader came to a halt.

"Huh… What's wrong Bonnie?" Clemont enquired while making his way to her to check what the problem was. She wasn't the one to be distracted that easily when she's excited and from the way she was behaving, it was safe to say that she was super excited. He had a faint idea what the problem would be though. And he was right.

"It's sooo cute." Bonnie squealed, stars twinkling in her eyes. She had spotted a Pokémon.

"Oh it's a Dedenne, he's an electric/fairy type Pokémon." Clemont suggested while adjusting his glasses.

"He sure is" Ash admitted to Bonnie.

"Big Brother, wouldn't you catch him for me." she pleaded with her best puppy dog eyes.

"I… I don't know Bonnie, you're way too young to take care of a Pokémon."

"Aw please, I will take good care of him" she tugged onto his shirt, pulling it the hardest she could with her little hands. She really wanted to be with him. He was too cute for her to let go.

"Come on Bonnie, don't act like a kid." Clemont reprimanded her while turning to dodge her pleading eyes so not to lose his composure.

"I am a kid" she clenched her hands into fists and screamed in the highest pitch she could utter, to which Clemont's frown deepened.

Ash was trying his best to hold his laughter. "Are all sibling like this? I wonder what May and Max are doing." But when Bonnie pouted her lips in annoyance and Clemont mimicked her, he couldn't hold it any longer. He chuckled slightly which drew the attention of the siblings.

"It's not funny Ash" Clemont gave out a frustrated complaint. Bonnie however had a light bulb lit over her head. She rushed to him and it was his turn to be tugged by her. But before she could plead any further, he raised his hand in a stopping manner.

"Clemont I think you should do it. I know you think she's way too young to take care of a Pokémon, yet. But believe me I was just 10 when I started my journey with an arrogant Pikachu." He got a playful complaining squeak from Pikachu to whom he apologized the next moment.

"Well if you say so, I guess…" Clemont agreed but nervously, he still wasn't sure that it was a right idea but if he said it was fine then he decided to place his doubts aside.

"Alright, I'll catch him" Bonnie couldn't be any happier and in the heat of the moment she squealed in joy and she did that really loud thus frightening the little mouse Pokémon. He dashed into the bushes before disappearing.

"Bonnie~" Both Ash and Clemont moaned in unison.

"Aw what did I do? We're never going to find him now" Ash knew she was upset, okay... okay... super upset. He could've sworn that he even saw some tears forming in her eyes. He kneeled down to her height and placed his hand on her head, thus gaining her attention.

"Don't worry, we'll find him, alright?" He assured her with the sweetest smile he could wear. She loosened up a bit, she didn't know why but being around him made her feel safe. It could've been because of what he's done for the one's he didn't even knew. Or maybe because he always seemed to wear that smile, no matter how hard the situation would turn out to be. She controlled her tears and nodded enthusiastically with a huge grin.

"Now buddy, see if you could sense his electric signature." Pikachu nodded instantly and jumped off his shoulder taking his place on a rock. He looked back to his trainer who nodded, asking him to do it. With the nod, Pikachu shot an insanely powerful thunderbolt towards the sky.

Both the sibling's watched in awe as the bolt changed into a sphere of energy after attaining a definite height. The sphere kept increasing in diameter and thus engulfing everything in its way. Clemont wasn't so sure about being engulfed into lightening so he pulled Bonnie behind himself to try and protect her. But Ash assured them that it wasn't dangerous and to demonstrate his point, he made his way right through it. Clemont sighed in relief and released her from his grip.

She however wasn't scared a bit, in fact she was totally mesmerized by what she was seeing. After a few seconds the energy engulfed them too and just as Ash had told them it didn't hurt a bit. In fact, their hair started to float as is they were weightless. After about one minute, Pikachu stopped and the strange energy vanished into thin air. He turned to Ash and gave and excited squeak, to which Ash smiled and nodded.

"Good work buddy, now let's go catch him for Bonnie." Pikachu began to rush deep into the forest, leaving the pathway. Ash was quick to follow him but Clemont and Bonnie were frozen in their spots.

"What was that?" Clemont managed to get the words out but still staggering with his voice a bit.

"Well it's a little trick that I came up with someone" he told him in a casual tone. Not really understanding what was the big deal about it.

"It was sooo cool" Bonnie squealed the moment she came back to wits, Ash gave her another sweet smile before motioning them to follow to which they obliged.

* * *

"I choose you, Fennekin" Serena kneeled to pick the fox Pokémon up, who seemed to be very pleased with her decision. Though the other Pokémon seemed to be a little upset about it. She'd already decided, whom she was going to choose even before she left her home after all.

"Good, now that you've chosen your first Pokémon, I would declare you to be an official Pokémon trainer. Take good care of her alright?" Said Professor Sycamore with a pleasant expression. It was always a pleasant experience to see a new trainer choose their Pokemon.

"Here, these are your Pokeballs and your Pokedex. I wish you good luck"

"Thanks Professor, for everything." With that the professor began to turn and leave but Serena called him.

"What is it? Do you need anything else?" he asked while turning to face her again.

"Professor, I know it's an awkward thing to ask but do you know the boy who helped that Garchomp the other night?" She was kind of embarrassed and asked rather nervously.

"Why yes, you must be talking about Ash?" he answered sounding rather proud.

"Yes, Ash. That's it. It has to be him" he thought to herself, delighting with the mention of the name.

"Yes, do you happen to know where I would be able to find him?" she asked while taking a step towards him in excitement.

"He told me that he was going to challenge the Santalune gym, maybe you could find him there."

"Great, Thanks a lot Professor." She waved him bye and dashed out of the exit.

"Well, someone's excited." Professor chuckled while shaking his head slightly before turning to head towards his room.

"Oh I can't believe it. I'll finally meet him after all these years." She pulled out a handkerchief from her bag, it had a red Pokeball on its corner. She brought it near to her face, admiring it and soon a blush crept over her face.

"Ash"

* * *

"Told you, we're going to find him." Ash smirked as they were now hiding in some bushes and looking over to a certain mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu, you're awesome." Pikachu mimicked his trainer's actions, just what he always did when he was embarrassed, to which all of them chuckled.

"It's your turn Bonnie." Ash said as she gulped and showed herself to the little fairy type. He was startled with the surprise appearance and tried to run away but when he turned to look at the little girl, he stopped. Bonnie made her way to him with a berry in her palm ever so slowly. She didn't want to repeat her mistake and scare him and luckily it all went quite fine. He approached her and took the berry from her hand and started eating it.

Bonnie suppressed her urge to glomp him as he was too cute. She knew what she had to do.

"Dedenne, I was thinking…. Umm"

"Dene~" he tilted his head in confusion.

"Well I was thinking…., would you like to come with me?" she failed to find her confidence. She wanted him so bad and she didn't want to catch him by hurting him, that's why Clemont wasn't fighting him. She had told them that she wanted him to be her friend. Ash was really impressed by the young girl, she was really proving to be like him.

"Ne~" Dedenne blinked a bit. He wasn't sure what to do.

"Oh please, please, please Dedenne, we'll be best friends." She clasped her hands together to beg him to come with her. He looked into the young girl's eyes for a few moments without moving a bit. Then he dropped his head down as if he was thinking something.

"She did it." Ash declared proudly with his face breaking into a huge smile. And the moment he had said that, the mouse Pokémon raised his head to look at her and gave her a big nod and a joyful cry.

"Oh really? Thank you so much." She broke into tears as he climbed onto her shoulders and finally giving a big jump to make it to her head. She quickly whipped the tears of joy and started to laugh heartedly.

Ash and Clemont showed up the next moment and Clemont was speechless. His little sister had caught her first Pokémon, without even throwing a pokeball. He was more than happy for her and he too got a little numb. Ash however was watching her playing with him with his hands crossed over his chest looking really impressed. He reached to his buddy at his usual place on his shoulder and scratched him behind his ears, earning a "Chaaa~" from him.

"Here, go and make it official." Clemont handed her a Pokeball which she took gladly. She then turned to Dedenne and asked him if he was ready to which his nodded with a small cry. She pressed the button and soon he was hit with a red light and dematerialised into the ball. It shook for once and then it was done.

She quickly released him and he took his previous place on her head." Clemont proceeded to take the Pokeball from her, to which Bonnie frowned. She was about to complain when Ash explained his actions.

"You see Bonnie, you are not officially old enough to keep a Pokeball with you. So until you're big enough Clemont's going to be the official trainer of Dedenne." Clemont nodded to his words, thus confirming them.

"Thank you so much big brother" she wrapped Clemont into a big hug which he happily returned. Ash and Pikachu couldn't help but smile to the scene in front of them, it was too adorable.

"I think we should camp here for the night, we won't be able to reach the Santalune city till tomorrow." Clemont suggested, to which the other two happily agreed.

Clemont prepared the food for the group and according to Ash, it was one the best he had ever tasted. After that they had finished their food, it was time to call in the day. Clemont offered Ash to share their tent when he came to know that he didn't has one but Ash rejected saying that he loved to sleep under the stars.

As soon as the siblings had turned out for the day, he released his newest member from his Pokeball who was more than happy to be out as he wasn't used to being there for long.

"So Froakie, it's time for your first training." Ash announced while crossing his hands over his chest and leaning to him a bit. Froakie gave a confident cry and made a determined stance to which Ash smirked. He knew he could help him with what he wanted and he was pleased to see that he was ready to do everything for it.

"So I take it as speed is your speciality huh? Froakie nodded confidently. Sure he was fast, he was too fast.

"You know Pikachu's fast too" he said while turning his attention towards the one and only who was mimicking his trainer's actions precisely.

"We'll consider you fast, if you are able to impress him" Froakie gave another confident nod and gave a loud cry.

"Alright then, Buddy don't go too crazy alright?" Pikachu gave him an assuring smile before motioning the frog Pokémon to follow him.

"Alright 100 laps of the camp, Froakie try and finish at least 50." Froakie face planted. He gave Ash "you can't be serious" look to which his new trainer replied that he was damn serious indeed. Pikachu decided to give him a boost. He nudged and called him mockingly, which did the trick as he followed his lead. He looked back to see that Ash was making his way back to the camp, maybe to sleep? Soon they both left to do their task and Froakie was pretty pleased with himself as he was holding up pretty well with Pikachu.

But after about 50 laps, he was spent and was really frustrated. After all he was wrong about Ash. He was just another trainer who would spend his Pokémon to be stronger. He didn't know what real strength was. He was so frustrated that he left his training in the middle. Pikachu being too ahead of him didn't realize it. He was broken, when he had seen Ash, he thought that he had found the very person he was looking for so desperately. Acting so selfless and even daring to throw up his own life to be with his Pikachu. He had thought that he knew what was training a Pokémon all about. It wasn't about making them die training. It was about loving them so much that they surpass their potential for them. At least he could have trained with them, rather he went to sleep instead.

He was furious to himself. He jumped to a tree and started heading away from the camp, but came into halt after hearing a sound of thud and it wasn't normal to hear such sound at the middle of the night. He approached to the possible location of the reason for the sound and what he saw blew his mind.

It was Ash indeed. He had fallen from a tree and by looking at the surroundings, it seemed that the reason was a broken branch. He was twitching in pain and struggled to stand up. He was bit of a dizzy and fell again while trying to stand. He managed to get on his feet after about 5 tries and as soon as he had done it, he hooped toward another tree to grab its branch and pulling himself up.

The moment he made it to the tree, he quickly jumped to the next branch and next and next till he slipped his footing and lost his balance. He was still hanging to the branch though but got a slight cut on his cheek while doing so. He pulled himself up the branch again and repeated his course.

Froakie couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had never seen any trainer working so hard. Not just the trainer he had left but not any single one. He realized why Pikachu respected him so much and now feeling an utter shame and regret for what he was about to do. He was about to lose his true partner. But then he got nudged from behind and he came to know that it was Pikachu. He was wearing a sorry smile but Froakie couldn't figure out why. It should've been him to wear that kind of smile. He was the one who should be sorry. By doing something as foolish as it, he had disrespected his Sensei and nakama.

Pikachu motioned him to follow him without a word. Froakie knew the only way to win his Sensei's respect was to win Pikachu's respect and he knew how to do it.

After about 2 hours Ash was lying on his back with Pikachu on his chest, staring at the beautiful blanket of stars. He had put on a band aid on the place he got cut and had a faint smile of satisfaction on his face.

"So he earned your respect hun?" Ash asked while trying to hide his happiness for the favor of remaining neutral but failing miserably so.

"Pika~chu" he nodded while looking as proud as Ash was right now. He knew that small thing had a lot in him.

* * *

"Fennekin, come on out."

"Fen~" The fox Pokémon tilted her head in confusion. She didn't know why she had called her at the middle of the night. Serena picked her up and placed her on her laps.

"Sorry Fennekin, I couldn't sleep so I thought if you could give me some company." She told her apologetically, to which she barked happily.

She began to groom her fur and if anyone would've been seeing them, they could've told that the fox Pokemon was loving it. "You know Fennekin? Tomorrow is going to be very important for me. I'm going to start a new life, a trainer's life." The fox Pokémon started to nuzzle her hands gently to assure that she's going to be with her. Serena couldn't help but smile, she picked her up and took her in an embrace.

"And I don't just want to start my journey, I want to start my journey with him." She whispered ever so softly but Fennekin, being a fox got her accurately.

"Fenniken?" she pushed herself back to look into her eyes, she wasn't sure who was that 'him' she was talking about.

"Oh, I forgot, I haven't told you about him yet. Have I?" Fennekin shook her head in denial to which she smiled. That's what she wanted. She wanted to talk about him.

"You know Fenekkin, when I was a little girl, I met a boy." She paused as a smile crept over her face. "The sweetest I've ever met. He gave me the best company I ever had and you can say I was all into him." She finished with a chuckle. "But then I had to leave him and ever since I've always wanted to see him again, be by him again." She almost whispered the last part but then her mood brightened up in a split second. "And tomorrow I'm going to meet him again, after all these years."

She paused to look out of the window and stare the moon. "Will he remember me?" she asked to herself. Fenekkin started to lick her cheeks to show her affection causing Serena to giggle heartedly.

"He better remember me and if he doesn't I'll make sure to make him do."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: No excuses at all just an apology for the delayed upload; sorry about the delay people after promising a quick upload. Well here's the next chapter. Let me know how you felt about it. Thank you for all your support and reviews since the last time. :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8: "The Bug Badge"**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I can never own Pokemon :'(**_

* * *

"What's that for Ash" Clemont asked him while pointing out the band aid on his face.

"A bug bite maybe" he answered sheepishly, while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well that's what happen when you sleep without a tent in the middle of a forest." Bonnie scolded him while poking him on his chest mockingly a bit to make her point noted, to which Ash let out a nervous chuckle. She had Dedenne on her head, which was starting to be his usual place.

"So shall we move out?" Clemont suggested and both of them nodded in agreement. Bonnie was leading the group as always, looking ever so content. Both Clemont and Ash smiled to see her practically skipping her way down the track.

Clemont however broke his gaze from her to look at the boy walking beside him who was still looking at her fondly. He didn't know why but something in him felt not so normal. He was having a hard time figuring him out. Being so calm and composed at most of the times but even doing something crazy at the other moment. He was still amazed by what he saw at the Pokémon Centre on the other day. Someone had already registered him and even dropped off a Golden membership card. There's nothing normal in that. He couldn't help but wonder who the person really was and he felt that Ash was hiding something from them. So he decided to give it another try.

"Ash? I was wondering about something." He mustered the courage to ask him and tried to sound as casual as he could. He didn't want him to think that he had no faith in him.

"What is it Clemont?" he turned to look at him while still wearing the usual, calm expression to which he sighed in relief.

"I was wondering if you laid any thought about who that person could be." Ash's calm expression was swapped with a cold one.

"I did Clemont but still I have no Idea who it was." He retorted almost immediately. Clemont knew what the answer would be but he got what he wanted to see, a change in his expression. He had no Idea why but he had realized that whenever that person was addressed, a frown crawled up to his face and his tone would turn cold and it was shady enough for him.

Ash noticed the stare and decided to avert his attention from the topic. The last thing he wanted was for them to know about her. "How long till we reach Santalune City?" he asked in an impatient manner which didn't go unnoticed by the young blonde.

"We're almost there. It's situated just outside the forest." He informed him while adjusting his backpack. Ash nodded to that before dashing towards the younger blonde, leading the group.

"He knows who the person is. I wonder why he doesn't want us to know it." He didn't realize but he had halted to his ground while trying to figure it out. He remained in the same position until he was called by Bonnie.

* * *

"So, this is Santalune City" he was standing at the edge of a cliff and was enthralled by what he was witnessing. The city was just beautiful and was bursting with people and their Pokémon.

"This is it Buddy. This is where it starts." He announced while never averting his gaze from the scene in front of him. Pikachu nodded from his usual place and gave a resolute cry to which Ash couldn't help but smile. He was so like him. They had everything common, the same heart, same passion, same spirit. It was hard for him to comprehend what they had among them, maybe it was some kind of connection but he knew that he wouldn't be able to be without him anymore.

Smiling to think how it all started, he caressed him behind his ears to which Pikachu squealed adoringly. This was when they heard a sound of a camera and it didn't take them long to spot the person who possessed it. The person was a girl, maybe 2 or 3 years older than him. She had sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes. Sensing that she was spotted, she showed herself while giving a sheepish smile.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked her coldly. The tone sent chills down the spine of the girl and she was really surprised to see the mood swing, one second ago he seemed to be the most sweet smiled person and now, well quite the contrary.

"Umm… Hi I'm sorry if I interrupted you two but you see I'm a professional photographer and I never let a single smile escape my focus and believe me I couldn't just let the one which I think was the 'deepest of them all' slip away." She tried to sound like the most innocent she possibly could.

"It's alright but try not to startle the others next time" he said while relaxing a bit, to which she sighed in relief. She then observed the figure in front of her and she didn't know why but she felt like she had seen him before. She was about to ask his name when she heard someone coming. They turned out to be Clemont and Bonnie. They were both trying to catch their breath and the former one seemed to be too weak to stand and felt like was about to collapse.

"You sure run fast Ash"

"You could've at least warned us about it." They complained while still huffing their lungs. He let out a nervous chuckle in response with an apologetic smile.

"Who's that girl anyway?" Bonnie piled up her breath to look at the older girl intently. She was about to introduce herself when Ash informed them what had happened.

"Oh, so you're a photographer." Clemont said while adjusting his glasses to which she nodded happily. Ash turned his gaze to look at Bonnie who had held her head down, not showing her face. Ash was about to ask her what the problem was when she erupted with a squeal.

"You're a keeper. Please take care of my brother." Bonnie was on her knees and had held her hands out in a proposing manner to which both Ash and the girl sweat dropped. "Bonnie~" Clemont moaned as he grabbed her with the help of the Mechanical arm. "I've told you a million times not to do this"

"You'll think about it right?" Bonnie asked her with a wink to which she gave a nervous chuckle.

"So they are your friends?" she asked while leaning to him a bit, which Ash confirmed with a nod while looking at Clemont scolding Bonnie and the latter pouting in response with a small smile. She couldn't help but blush to see him smile like that. She thought he was cute after all.

"Anyways, do you happen to know the location of the Santalune Gym?" Ash turned his attention towards the young photographer who was staring at him intently and was startled at being addressed.

"Uh what? Oh… yeah I sure do." She affirmed while scramming with her words, to which he sweat dropped.

"Could you please lead us to it?" he asked with a genuine smile, to which she blushed again.

"Yeah sure, I could do that" she agreed while giving him an assuring nod.

"Great thanks."

The girl guided them to the Gym which didn't take too long. The moment they made it to the gym, a lizard Pokémon rushed towards our heroes, tackling Ash fondly and thus surprising everyone, even Ash himself. Sure he knew who it was but he had no idea that he'll meet them here.

"Hey Helioptile, great to see you too." He kneeled down to his level to stroke his head to which he cried in joy. "Wait does that mean…" He was about to deduce the situation when he heard the same person he was about to refer.

"Hey Ash, glad to meet you again." She stretched her hand out which he took gladly, shaking it firmly.

"Alexa, but what are you doing here?"

"Well ummm… I wanted to see you battle." She paused a bit to look at the other girl and it seemed that she bit her tongue.

"So you are 'the' Ash Ketchum." Now the other girl joined the conversation. She shoved Alexa from her place to stand in front of him and staring him contently, to which everybody sweat dropped.

"Well she wasn't exaggerating when she told me you were cute. No wonder why she decided to rob a cradle" She exclaimed playfully with a wink receiving an indignant "Hey~" from her now furiously blushing elder sister.

"Hehehe is that so?" he said bashfully while scratching his chin with his finger.

"Wait would someone mind tell us what's going on and Ash how do you know that girl?" Bonnie shrieked thus gaining the latter's attention.

"Oh Sorry I guess I forgot to introduce her to you. She's Alexa and she's a journalist. And about how I know her, I met her in Unova some time ago, where she informed me about the Kalos region. In other words, she's the reason I'm here. And Alexa, they're my new friends." They introduced themselves to each other.

"Wait does that mean you're Viola?" he asked the younger of the two sisters who nodded in affirmation rather gladly.

"Great I would like to challenge you for a gym battle."

"That would be my pleasure. After all, I've heard a lot about you that I can't wait to see for myself." She then invited them to follow her to the arena which they all gladly accepted. There were pictures everywhere, but they all were Pokémon's, not a single trainer. Ash looked the figure who was guiding them and could tell from her pace that she was more than excited about this. She was practically skipping her way.

Both the trainer's took their respective places at the either side of the arena. The arena was surrounded by trees all over which gave him slight idea about her speciality. Meanwhile Clemont, Bonnie and Alexa made their way to the side lines. They were all really excited to see Ash battle and Alexa promised them that it's going to be great as she had already seen him battle. It was the first time for the latter to see him do so but from what they had witnessed him doing, there was no doubt that he was insanely strong. Bonnie cheered for Ash to which he smiled and nodded to her. Although Clemont stood there tensed as if he was the one who was about to battle. The thing was, he was really excited. From what he had seen, he had deduced him to be his Idol. He always wanted to wield that courage of his caliber. Now was the time for him to prove that he was right about it.

* * *

"So this is Santalune City" Serena stood at the exact same point where Ash had been to observe the city as wind blew her golden hair.

"This is where I'm going to meet him, after all this time." She closed her eyes as a smile crept over her lips. "I wonder how he will react." She thought to herself as she blushed a bit. "Now all I have to do is to find him." She took out a tablet from her bag to try and locate the Gym, which she supposed would be the best place to find him. "There"

* * *

"So how does a 3 on 3 Battle sounds?"

"Works with me" Viola nodded to the referee who took his place between both the sides of the arena with flags in his hands.

"This will be a 3 on 3 Battle between the Challenger Ash Ketchum and the Gym leader Viola. The match is over if any of the trainer lose all of their Pokémon. Moreover only challenger gets to substitute his Pokémon." Both Ash and Viola nodded to each other both looking quite confident. Ash had an excited smile while Viola had a smirk on her face.

"So shall we begin Ash" Viola asked while taking out her first Pokeball and thrusting it forward.

"Wait first I have a favour to ask"

"Anything for you" she said rather coyly to which everybody sweat dropped and Ash chuckled nervously.

"Well I want you to fight at your full strength" he stated while punching his fist forward.

"Of course I will, I always do." She countered confidently.

"Alright let's give it all we've got." He unclipped his own Pokeball from his belt and propelled his hand in the same manner. "Froakie, I choose you" he yelled as he released the frog ninja Pokémon.

"Froakie~" he cried the moment he made contact with the field, sounding totally pumped up.

"Yay go Froakie" Bonnie and Dedenne both cheered from their place at the side lines while Clemont adjusted his glasses.

"So a Froakie huh? Alright let's go Surskit." As both the Pokémon had been revealed the referee signalled for the match to commence.

"Alright Froakie, let's start with the Quick attack." Froakie croaked while dashing forward to his opponent. He proved to be too fast for Surskit or her trainer to counter as he collided with the water/bug type Pokémon head on.

"He sure is fast" Viola complimented as Surskit stumbled back a little off the collision.

"Let's see if he can move now though" she pushed her hand forward to which the water/bug Pokémon nodded knowing what her trainer wanted her to do. Ash gritted his teeth to see her using an Ice beam on the arena and thus creating a thick sheet of Ice making it hard for Froakie to even stand as Viola smirked.

"Defeating my sister isn't that easy" stated Alexa from the side lines as Bonnie turned her gaze to look at her off the abrupt declaration. Just when she was about to tell her that Ash could beat her no sweat, she noticed someone entering the arena. It was Serena. She froze the moment she saw Ash fighting against Viola. She was too excited to notice that he was in the middle of a match and started to make her way towards him when she was called by Alexa.

"Excuse me, may I help you with something?" she asked her in sweetest way but was surprised to see the other girl jump at her place. Probably she wasn't expecting someone to call her.

"Umm well I was wondering if it would be fine if I watch the match" she answered rather hesitantly while fondling her fingers nervously.

"Why sure, you may join us here." She motioned her to come to where they were standing which she agreed happily. She noticed that the sound of commands had been stopped and she turned her attention towards the battlefield to see that Froakie was struggling to stand still on the frozen surface. She reached to the group where they introduced each other.

However she wasted no time in turning her attention towards the field the moment they had finished their gabbing. She tensed up to see the frog Pokémon stumbling back off a head on quick attack. She then turned to look at Ash who now seemed to be calming down and the next moment his frown was replaced by a confident smirk.

"Froakie use your frubbles on your feet." Froakie didn't hesitate for a second and did just what he was told to and it did work he was able to stand but no longer able to move and everyone in the stadium seemed to realise that as they all threw him some confused glances, unable to process his action.

"Well, you do know he won't be able to move anymore right?" Viola did the favor to all the spectators and asked the raven haired trainer herself to which his smirk widened. She didn't seem impressed though as the excitement on her face was taken over by a frown.

Serena was just as confused as the others. What was he thinking? How could he win the match if he can't even move? She closed her eyes as Viola asked Surskit to finish the battle.

Surskit skated his way to the immobile frog Pokémon to try and finish the battle but Ash had other plans. He asked Froakie to use his frubbles to try and stop Surskit to her tracks but was having a hard time to do it as she was too fast and dodged every single one of them.

Viola turned to look Ash with a look of disappointment on her face but was surprised to see that he looked rather too calm, as if he was the one having the upper hand. She had no time to think about that though as Surskit was eventually caught by a frubble which had been there on the field. And that moment she realised what his plan was and cursed herself for not figuring it out any sooner.

She was relieved though as Froakie was still unable to move and they had a good distance but still she had to find a way to get rid of that sticky obstacle.

"Now Froakie use Water Pulse on the ice" Froakie pulled his right arm behind as it was soon engulfed with a blue energy. The energy soon concentrated to his palm as it took a shape of a sphere. With a nod from his trainer he slammed the ball of energy towards the ground and thus breaking the sheet of ice around him. "Alright" Bonnie and Serena cried in unison as the frog Pokémon was now free to land an attack.

"Now Froakie skate your way towards Surskit and prepare a water pulse." Froakie did just the thing. Though he initially struggled to maintain his balance but soon he got the hang of it. As Froakie was about to make contact with the bug type, Viola tried to deliver a desperate blow and asked Surskit to use an Ice beam. There was a large explosion as both the attacks collided. Everybody leaned towards the field to try and figure out the winner but were surprised to see both the Pokémon lying on the Field with swirls in their eyes.

" **Both Surskit and Froakie are unable to battle. Which means both the trainer and gym leader lose their first Pokémon."**

Ash recalled Froakie to his pokeball while praising him for the great job he had done. Viola recalled her Pokémon too but she wasn't too happy about something as she wore a visible frown which didn't go unnoticed by Ash.

"What is it Viola?" he tried to ask her what the matter was to which she looked straight into his eyes to answer.

"Oh it's nothing. From what I've heard of you, I had thought that…" she paused a bit to look at her sister in the stands. "It's just I'm a little disappointed." She finished off with a sigh. Ash however gave out a soft chuckle at the announcement.

"Well, he did a great job keeping in mind that it was his first ever battle and I've been training him for only a few days." He said while staring at his Pokeball. Everyone in the gym let out some surprised yelps except the siblings.

"It was his first battle?" Viola asked while finding it hard to believe as Ash nodded to reassure her. Soon the frown was whipped off her face as she showed her second Pokeball with all the excitement of the world.

"So how about we start the second round? Go Vivillon" Bonnie squealed to the charm of the butterfly Pokémon from the side lines and Clemont had to practically drag her to prevent her from tackling her. All it took for Ash was a simple look at his faithful mouse Pokémon, as he took a leap to stand before his trainer with a defensive stance, surprising everyone.

"So finally it's the 'Legendary Slayer'" she exclaimed with excitement as Ash chuckled to the expression.

"Hey Viola, why don't you remove the limiter?"

"What? How do you know about that?" she was too confused to deduce anything. She had no idea in the world to any possible explanation for Ash knowing about the limiters.

"I think you know that very well." He retorted confidently and she seemed to realize what he meant.

"Still Ash you know that I can't remove the limiter in an official gym battle. It's against the rules."

"What is a limiter anyway?" Bonnie asked from her place in the stands.

"Limiters are special devices that every gym leader have to place in their Pokeball so that they can limit their Pokémon's strength to a particular level. It is to provide the trainers a fair chance against them as most of the gym leaders are extremely strong." Clemont explained to Bonnie, who was finding it hard to believe it.

"Exactly, the same" Ash confirmed while wearing a confident character.

"I have no problem with it personally but you know that I can't do that." She sounded rather disappointed but she knew it wasn't fair no matter how strong the challenger is.

"You think we won't be able to handle you?" Ash closed his eyes to try and figure something out and it seemed like he did as he had a grin when he opened them.

"How about this. I'll do whatever you want me to if I lose this match" Viola wide eyed to the proposal as soon her frown was taken over by a smirk.

"You've got a deal. If you lose, we're going on a date." She announced the term with a wink to which he sweat dropped while everyone in the arena did a comical fall.

"Viola? Seriously?" Alexa exclaimed from her place while pulling herself up, to which she bit her tongue playfully. Serena however couldn't believe it. An older woman asking him for a date and not just any girl but a gym leader. She just hopped that he wouldn't agree, but as if to tease her, he agreed. Viola recalled her Vivillon to her Pokeball and then removed what seemed to be a transparent cover from it before releasing her again. The referee signaled for the match to commence and both the trainers didn't waste another second.

"Pikachu Iron tail to the ground." With one mighty slam the ice was cleared off the field completely, surprising everyone including Viola herself as she watched the strength of the cute mouse Pokémon awestruck. Large pieces of the ice flew towards the sky and before anyone could notice, Pikachu was climbing them to make his way towards the Butterfly Pokémon.

Viola did notice what was going on, but it was when she heard the "Chupi~" and she was too late as Pikachu had scored a direct hit on Vivillon's head with an Iron tail and the next second Vivillon was on the ground, down and out while Pikachu took his former place in front of his trainer gracefully not even breathing heavy.

"Sh... She's down." Clemont had to take off his glasses to check if he was hallucinating, but no he had done it with a single blow with even the Limiter off.

"Pikachu's too fast" Bonnie had that same disbelief in her eyes as she found it hard for her to comprehend what she had just witnessed. Viola was finding it hard to believe herself. Her Vivillon was not the one to be taken out with a single hit, not to mention that she had the limiter off. She turned her gaze towards her sister who had that 'I told you' look on her face. She then recalled her fallen Pokémon before holding her head down. Ash watched as her lips curved into a smile as she raised her gaze to stare him right into the eyes.

"So it was true." She muttered to herself. It didn't take long for Ash to win the match after that as Pikachu took out her next Pokémon just in the same manner, with one blow.

Bonnie rushed to the raven haired trainer as soon as he was declared the winner. She squealed about Ash being the coolest of them all to which he laughed bashfully. She then picked Pikachu up and nuzzled him with her life but unlike the last time, she wasn't awarded with a shock to which he sighed in relief.

The others took a few moments to assess what had happened as it all seemed too fast for them to comprehend, before joining the young blonde in congratulating them. Everyone but Serena. She was too stunned to see him like this. Viola approached Ash with a defeated expression but it seemed to be too much.

"Hey Viola? What is it?" Alexa asked her while placing her hand over her shoulder. "You know it's not bad to lose right?" she tried to comfort her as she knew she had taken a real bad loss.

"About the battle? I'm sad true but about the date? I'm devastated." She cried in disappointment with river of tears flowing down her face. Everyone mimicked their previous reactions while she giggled playfully.

"Here Ash, it's the Bug Badge. It's the proof of your victory over me" She presented Ash the badge which he took proudly and staring it for a few moments. Before letting out his usual victory cry. With that the group was about to leave the gym when Viola called Ash.

"Ash, I was wondering if I could join you on your journey." Everyone froze to their place to hear that especially Serena. She couldn't believe her luck. She had come all this way to be with him and now he was asked by an older woman who happened to be a gym leader. Ash was about to say something when he was interrupted by her.

"I know you're thinking about the gym but believe me, by being with you I'm sure I could be a better gym leader. With you I can be stronger, so please."

"I'm sorry Viola, but I'm afraid I'm no good around girls. And about getting stronger, you can only get stronger with your Pokémon and having a strong bond with them. Because someone once told me that it's where the real strength comes from. Following me will do you no good." He said with an apologetic look and the sweetest voice. She closed her eyes with a smile and nodded before turning to head towards her sister.

"Hey Viola!" she turned back instantly at her mention to see Ash stretching his arm towards her, which she took the next moment.

"Let we both get stronger together and battle again when we meet next time." Her fake smile turned into a genuine one as she nodded in assurance. Alexa smiled at the scene knowing that it was the typical Ash she had heard about.

"Hey where did that girl go?" Bonnie exclaimed while looking for her in all the directions. Serena was there just a moment ago but now she was nowhere to be found.

"What girl?" Ash asked while turning his attention towards her.

"Well that girl. She was watching your match with us, she told me that her name was Serena. She was cute too, I was going to ask her to take care of Clemont" "Hey~!"

"Serena… huh?" he muttered to himself. Somehow the name felt like being familiar but then he shrugged it off.

The group then bid their farewell to the sisters who wished them luck for their journey before leaving towards the Pokémon Centre to spend the night.

* * *

"Fen~?" the fox Pokémon barked in confusion as she was pulled into a hug.

"He was there Fennekin, I saw him. But I couldn't muster the courage to talk to him." She whispered, sounding if she was about to cry. She had left the others the moment Ash had rejected Viola's request. She was now at the edge of the forest located at the bank of the city and it was starting to get dark.

"He's gone too far for me to even follow his trail." This time a tear falling from her cheek.

"Fennekin~" she cooed to try and comfort her trainer and seemed to be successful as she whipped her eyes and took her in her hands to take a good look at her.

"I'm sorry Fennekin but I think we have to start this alone. Just you and me." she said in the sweetest way she possibly could've with a huge grin. To which the fox Pokémon barked happily, letting her know that she would always be with her no matter what. Serena smiled and thanked her for being with her before returning her to her Pokeball.

She hadn't notice but it was pretty late now and there was no one around. The moment she realized she was in a forest alone in the dark. Consciousness struck her and she was petrified. She took out her tablet to try and find her way out but then she heard a crazy shriek and dropped her tablet in horror. She could hear something approaching her and whatever it was, she could tell that it was big. Soon the bush behind her started shuddering, scaring her life out of her. She tried to release Fennekin from her Pokeball when she tripped her foot to fall under a tree trunk. She soon realized that she had lost her Pokeball off tripping and panicked to find it but was frightened to her wits of another and this time a louder shriek.

She stumbled back to the tree, now tears wildly falling off her cheeks. She tried to stand but couldn't since she had twisted her ankle off the fall. All she could do now was to sit and see what fate had in store for her.

"Somebody please help me" she screamed with her might but she knew there was no one around. Her call was answered though but with another shriek.

"Ash please help me"

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:** Well probably not my best work but I hope you would still like it. Let me know how you felt about the chapter anyways thanks for all your support till now. Sorry for the cliffhanger though (I know am cruel). Buts its because I've planned something great for the Amourshippers and some of you might have got the hint xD. Dont hate me for what I did with Viola though, it was well :P for the plot Yes! for the sake of the plot xD Till the next chapter Peace Out. _

**_P.S._**

 ** _Guys am so frustrated. Why dont they just give Ash a break. He was so close and they made it look like he had done this time with Greninja's final attack (It was soo cool xD). I had almost given up the anime but someone assured me that things are going to get better with the team flare's arc. SO, for all the shippers who have given up anime; JUST DONT GIVE UP TILL IT'S OVER. 3_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9 : "Childhood Sweetheart"**_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _ **: "I do not own Pokemon"**_

"Ash please help me"

She knew that it won't do her any good. There was no chance that anyone could hear her let alone Ash. Her heart started to pace up to a limit that can be considered pseudo fatal. She closed her eyes to try and calm herself down but her attempt turned out to futile. The shrieks seemed to get louder with every passing moment. And then it came, a huge sound of thud, startling the young blonde trainer. She couldn't help but open her eyes to see what the source of the sound would be, but when she did, she totally regretted it.

She gazed forward to see two massive legs and that was all she could see. She gulped and ascended her gaze to try and get a full view of what seemed to be a monster. Her terror kept on hiking with the revelation of the every single inch of the figure in front of her. She gasped to figure what she was staring at, it was an Ursaring and by the looks of it, it didn't seem to be too happy about Serena being there.

The bear pokemon growled at her and she flinched due to the sudden eruption. He shrieked yet again before hauling his left arm back his ears and preparing to deliver a blow. Serena had lost all her wits to the point and she felt like she could pass out any second. She just watched the massive arm shining brightly in the dark forest without making any effort to try and avoid the hit. She had given up and all she could do now was to wait and see what the fate had in store for her.

The massive bear Pokémon shrieked before thrusting his fist towards Serena who had closed her eyes to try and buckle herself up for the pain that was sure to follow up. It seemed like everything was happening in slow motion and those few moments felt like hours but they seemed to be too much. According to her she should've been hit by now but that never happen. She gradually opened her eyes and couldn't believe what she saw. Someone was standing between her and the massive Pokémon. She figured out that it was a boy. She tried to get a better view of her savior but couldn't as it was too dark for a clear vision.

She tried to bring herself back to senses as the boy approached towards the menacing beast. She tried to stop him but couldn't find her voice. She watched in horror as the boy extended his hand towards it who growled to try and warn him but his shriek fell into deaf ears as the boy continued his action.

Serena clasped her hands together to pray to Arceus for the safety of the boy. She didn't want someone to get hurt because of her, of course. But what happened next forced her jaw to drop. She watched with wide eyes as her savior placed his hand on the Pokémon's belly and to her utter surprise it actually seemed to be calming down instantly. The boy stared the bear Pokémon right into his eyes who did the same thing but with every passing moment she could feel like it's glare was softening and then it finally nodded in an understanding way. Serena however couldn't dig what she had witnessed. One second ago that Ursaring was attacking her like crazy and the other second it was nodding to someone which she supposed wasn't its trainer.

The next moment, it turned to leave towards the center of the forest to which she sighed in relief. The moment she calmed herself down, she discovered that her savior was making his way towards her. She tried to stand on her feet to thank him for saving her but couldn't as she had twisted her ankle. He reached to the ground and it looked like he was picking something up and then she realized, that it was her Pokeball. He made his way towards her and stooped in front of her while extending the arm which contained her Pokeball.

"There, I believe that it belongs to you." He said in what she felt like the sweetest way but the moment she heard the sound her heart skipped a beat. She realized who the person was and by the name of Arceus she couldn't believe her luck. It was him. It was really him. Ash had really come to save her. She could feel the heat rising in her body as he handed her the pokeball but didn't say a word. Actually she wanted to. She wanted to hug him with all her life, she wanted him to comfort her after all but she didn't know why but she wasn't able to find the words. Ash frowned when he got no response from the girl which made him wonder if she was hurt or anything.

"Are you alright?" he asked her but she didn't say a thing which further worried him. He assumed that she was scared off her wits, so he tried to lighten the environment.

"You're not hurt are you?" he asked her again while placing his hand on her shoulder which spanked her out her trance. She now assessed her surroundings and realized that she had got her Pokeball back. She released the fox Pokémon who yawned before turning to look at her trainer who picked her up and embraced while sobbing a little. The fox Pokémon was surprised yes, but didn't take another second to realize that she needed her and thus nuzzled her face to her chest.

Ash couldn't help but smile to see the scene ahead of him. It was always touching whenever he found that kind of bond between a trainer and their Pokémon. He crossed his arms and waited for the latter to calm down. After about a minute, she ceased the sobbing and was now trying to find her rhythm. She then looked at Ash who was watching her with a warm smile. But soon she realized what the situation was. She knew Ash was really strong and she never wanted to see her acting so weak. Not at their first encounter.

"T thank you so much" she answered for the first time, though quite nervously.

Ash didn't say anything, instead he just nodded contently. He was about to ask her something when she tried to stand and winced in pain which he noticed.

"Hey what happened?" he asked while making his way to help her.

She instantly dropped to her previous position off the sudden impulse of pain.

"I think I twisted my ankle" she informed while trying to stand up again but yet failed again. She knew she won't be able to stand just like that but still she had to do it. She didn't want him to think that she was weak.

"Wait, let me see it." He took a seat next to her and started to take her shoe off. Though she resisted, saying that she was alright but to Ash, it was totally obvious that she wasn't. Ultimately, she gave in and Ash got a good look of her injury. It wasn't too severe but it was clear that she wouldn't be able to walk on her own.

"Can you walk?"

She hated to accept it but she gave in and admitted that she won't be able to do so. Ash knew he couldn't just leave her like that. She didn't seem to be the kind of person who would be fine all by herself at a place like that. He knew what he had to do and didn't wait for another moment.

Serena blinked a couple of time when Ash turned around, his back facing her and then kneeling down before her. She blushed to realize what he was planning.

"Come on. Hope on" he told her in the sweetest voice. Serena's brain was failing to process anything at this point as she went forward and made herself on his back.

At the moment, she was being the most self-conscious, she had ever been in her entire life. She couldn't comprehend what she was feeling. It all seemed like a mirage. Few minutes ago, she was stranded in a living nightmare, but now she was living the dream of her life. It was almost too good to be true and now she was having a hard time in believing what she was going through.

"Hey, by the way, what's your name?" after a few minutes of silence, he thought it was best if he would open up as maybe that girl was too shaken to do that herself.

She didn't respond for a few more moments. Maybe because her was over flooded by all types of thoughts. Like what's actually going on; was it really happening or she was hallucinating?

She was that close to him that she could feel the warmth radiating from him and then a thought struck her. Her heart was beating way too fast, making it almost obvious that he would notice it. She just prayed that he did not and tried to calm herself down but all her efforts were in total vain.

She hadn't even notice that he had said something until he turned his head around to see if she was alright. Then panic struck her. She didn't want Ash to think that she was rude or anything.

"Uh huh, oh, my name's Serena" she was fumbling with her own words, clearly not in a comfortable position.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ash" he said with the sweetest accent he could wear with a broad smile.

"Yeah I know that" She whispered in his ear. Though she had said it really low pitched but she made sure that he had noticed her. She wanted him to ask her, how that was. Only then she would be able to tell him about their previous encounter and then maybe, he'd recognize her. But she kept waiting and waiting cause that never happened. All her hope expectations, died at once.

Ash however was flabbergasted to hear that at first, but then shrugged it off assuming that she would have possibly seen him on the news or something. But when he stressed on the name Serena, he realized something.

"You're not the same girl from earlier, are you?" That question came in as a punch. She was too sure that he hadn't notice her but if that was so, then how could he say something like that.

"Yeah that would be me" she admitted, pulling her head closer to his back, as if she wanted to cover her face off the embarrassment.

"But how do you know that? I thought you never noticed me."

"I didn't actually. Sorry. You see when I'm battling, I'm just battling." It was true enough, whenever he was excited about something, nothing could possibly act as a distraction, especially if it's a gym battle.

"Yeah I could see that" she finished with a chuckle which was joined by Ash's more bashful one. For the first time, the environment seemed to lighten. But that didn't remain the same for long.

"What were you doing in a place like this anyways?" He asked in a serious tone. First time in the day actually.

All her comfort and all the confidence, she had gathered with the small conversation was gone, just like that. It was pretty obvious that she couldn't possibly tell him the truth. After all he didn't recognize her. What was she supposed to tell him anyways? That she was upset of him because he didn't recognize or even notice her at all. That she didn't had the confidence to face him after coming all this way, just to see him. She knew that it was crazy, it even sounded real crazy.

Ash realized her uneasiness about the subject so he tried to shift it. "Anyways, are you on a journey?"

"Journey?" she didn't feel too confident about herself anymore and her voice was an evidence to that. She sounded rather emotionless, as if she was in some sort of trance.

"Yeah Journey. You're a Pokémon Trainer right? What's your dream?" he asked it to her because he thought that maybe it could help and loosen her a bit but he was proved wrong when quite the reverse happened. She tensed up even more and it made him wonder about his decision.

"My dream?" she whispered to herself. He was right. What was her dream anyways? She had never given a thought to it. She knew that she was destined to be a Rhyhorn racer according to her mother. But she was quite sure that she wouldn't make a good one as she personally had no interest in it.

Ash took the silence as his answer. He was quite puzzled now. A trainer without any goal in their life. Now he felt bad for the girl. He didn't know why but it felt like something's not right about her.

"It's alright if you're still to figure out though." He told her sweetly before pausing a bit to continue. "It's the thing that we have to dedicate our lives to, so it better be worth the effort don't it?" She just gave an absent minded nod as her response before resting her head on his back. She was too exhausted to think anything though.

After a few minutes of walking, Ash realized that she'd fallen asleep. He didn't know if she had reserved a room or anything and she looked too relaxed for him to dare and wake her up. Having no other choice, he took her to the room he was sharing with the siblings. Unfortunately, it only had two beds. One was occupied by Bonnie and Clemont while the other belonged to him. He laid her down on his own bed silently so that he won't disturb his newly formed companions.

When he had ensured that she was comfortable, he got a first good look of the girl. She was sleeping peacefully and had a small smile curved on her face. She looked so relaxed. He couldn't help but smile to see her like that.

* * *

Serena woke up when she felt the first ray of the morning embracing her face. She was nervous to do so but. She didn't know what happened after he had nodded off. She didn't know where she was at the moment. She didn't know how to respond if she would find Ash standing in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes and found nothing. She realized that she was in a bed. She got up and rubbed her eyes to try and rub sleep out of them. She blinked a few moments before realizing that she was in a room indeed. It seemed like a Pokémon Centre. All her energy, all her joy dropped in a moment.

"So it was a dream after all" she whispered to herself before letting out a deep sigh. She thought that she was fool to believe that something like that would happen. She turned her gaze to stare out of the window and kind of zoned out after that.

"You're awake" she jumped in surprise as she heard a sound. To her dismay it belonged to a girl, so it couldn't possibly belong to Ash. But she was curious about the person anyways. She didn't remember meeting any girl and somehow the voice felt familiar. She turned her gaze to find a grinning Bonnie standing next to the bed.

Bonnie didn't wait for her to answer though as she was too stuffed with her usual energy.

"How are you feeling? Ash told us about you. You're not feeling any pain, are you?"

Serena didn't answer any of that though. She had far more important things on her mind at the moment. If Bonnie's here then, it had really happened. I wasn't a dream. He must've brought her here after she'd nodded. She was totally ecstatic. Bonnie looked at the older girl with amusement as she witnessed her expressions changing in a split second.

"Yeah I'm fine." She told her while tilting her head to finish.

"Good, why don't we go for the breakfast? I bet you'd be hungry" the little girl proposed which the older girl happily accepted. She asked her to wait for her at the canteen which she happily obliged. Serena tried to pull herself out of the bed sheet. But then she remembered that she had hurt her leg. Pulled the blanket to see that her leg was bandaged. Her heart skipped a beat when she perveived it was Ash who had probably done that. She couldn't help but smile for his sweetness. She knew that he hadn't recognize her but still he was being so nice to her.

She tried to stand with her eyes closed shut off the expected wave of pain but it never happened. Her leg wasn't hurting a bit. She quickly washed her face to make herself presentable before making her way down to the canteen area.

She was called by Bonnie the moment she had stepped into the hall as she slowly made her way to her. She was currently seated on a table for four beside a boy whom she recognized to be the bubbly girl's elder brother, Clemont. She made her way to the siblings before greeting them good morning and taking a place in front of Bonnie.

Clemont asked Serena what had actually happened the last night while they were waiting for their order to arrive. Bonnie listened to the elder girl with stars twinkling in her eyes.

"You must be really scared." Clemont asked as the latter admitted it.

"I was scared. I was scared to death. I was certain that I was going to die and then…." She trailed the sentence as she heard someone approaching. It was her savior indeed. She watched him nervously as he took his place next to her.

"Ash showed up" Bonnie completed the sentence for her as she stared him down with a small blush on her face. The latter greeted everyone before turning his attention to the Honey Blonde

"He always shows up." She whispered absent minded. She said it low enough to ensure that no one would hear her but to her bad luck, Bonnie seemed to catch it. She just narrowed her gaze before shrugging it off.

"I hope you're feeling better"

"Yeah I am, thanks to you" It was the first time that she was talking to him with someone around them, so she was feeling much more confident unlike when they're alone.

"Hey Serena" Bonnie called the older blonde suddenly causing everyone to turn towards her.

"What is it?" she didn't know why but the little girl had a serious vibe around her for the very first time.

"You said 'He always shows up'" she trailed to see the expression on her face which was worth a watch. Her eyes were like that they're going to jump out of their sockets. It was like someone was caught red handed. Serena turned to see that Ash was now looking at her looking quite curiously. She immediately turned to look at the other girl who was staring her sceptically.

"I thought that you'd just meet the other night" she said while turning her gaze to the raven haired trainer for some sort of explanation but the latter was just as clueless as she, herself was.

Serena was now feeling a strong desire to punch herself in the gut. She wasn't prepared for this at all but by the looks on Ash's face, he seemed just as curious as the younger blonde. She sighed as she realized that she had no way out of this situation. Guess she had to tell him. But she didn't want to do it like that.

"Yeah Bonnie. It wasn't the first time that he had helped me like that." She finished by stealing a glance towards Ash.

"I did? I don't remember doing something like that." Serena sighed again while turning to him to explain things to her childhood hero.

"Yeah you did. But we were too young back then, so it's quite understandable that you don't recall a thing." She looked hopefully towards him but to her discontent, he was still as clueless as ever.

"Tell us the whole thing" Bonnie exclaimed while making her way up the table to lean towards the Honey Blonde. The latter sweat dropped and let out a nervous chuckle but then nodded to approve the idea. She then turned to look Ash straight into his eyes.

"So it went something like this" she paused a bit to try and recall the details of her 'most cherished moments'. "I was in the Pallet town, to attend the Pokémon summer camp organised by Professor Oak. I didn't actually wanted to go but my mom made me. So I was quite mad at her." She had realized that she was being too silly at that time but then again, she was just a little girl back then.

"I was quite an introvert type of girl, so I didn't have many friends." She paused to bit her tongue "Actually I didn't have a single" She took a look of all the listeners and was quite satisfied that they were paying attention.

"One day I was bullied by some kids and I felt so terrible that I made a run from the place. I didn't ever want to go back there. I kept running and running and when I stopped I realized that I was lost"

"I was in the middle of the forest and to tell you the truth, I was scared. I tried to figure my way back to the Camp site. Even though I hated it there, but still I was at least safe. But soon I realized that I was not going to do that ever."

"Just when despair was about to hit me, I heard some rumbling sounds. It was coming from the bush behind me. So off the alarm, I tried to run in the opposite direction, only to trip my leg and falling face first to the ground" she trailed to chuckle a bit but was quickly ordered by Bonnie to continue as she was now finding it hard to control her excitement.

"I turned over to glance at the bushes, from where the sound was coming. The rumbling got louder and louder and then something leapt out of them."

"Poliwag~" it said. Now that I knew that it was a Poliwag, didn't help me feel better. I was scared to death and couldn't hold any longer."

* * *

 ** _Flashback_** :

"I knew I didn't want to come to camp. I knew it." There was a brief moment where the only sounds were light sniffs, and then was a loud scream.

"Mommmmyyyyyy!"

"Poliwag?" Ash called out, pushing through the bushes. He could hear a light whimpering sound, the person at the other end nervous about the rustling bushes.

Ash then pushed through the bushes, and looked around. His eyes went to a large tree, where a girl was backed up against it, tears on her face, and eyes shut tight. Ash could tell that she was terrified. She didn't even know that it was him and not a Pokémon in front of her.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ash asked, trying his best to make his voice sound as gentle as possible.

The girl opened her eyes and stared at Ash in surprise. He took a step forward, making sure he was visible so that she could see he wasn't a threatening Pokémon.

"Huh?" was the only response.

"Hi, I'm Ash," he greeted, pointing to himself and smiling. He then tried to get her to speak.

"Who're you?" he asked, suddenly forgetting about Poliwag. When all she did was whimper again, he tried again to make her speak. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

Finally, she seemed to understand that it was ok to respond to him. She glanced down to her leg, tears still coming down her cheeks. "I hurt...my leg," she whimpered, staring her leg in fear.

Ash could see now that she had a nasty scrape on her leg, and realized now that it had been this that had caused the loud scream he'd heard earlier. He suddenly felt the urge make this girl more comfortable. He didn't want to see her hurt. He quickly knelt down in front of her.

"Don't worry," he told her, reaching around and pulling a blue handkerchief from his pocket. "See this?" he asked, holding it up in front of her.

"This'll make it better." He gently moved the handkerchief forward and carefully wrapped it around her knee. The only noise she made, was another, "huh?" but she didn't move away. For some reason, that had made Ash feel quite good about himself.

He quickly finished tying the handkerchief into a knot, and then looked hopefully at the girl. "All done," he said happily. She stared at her leg for a moment and then seemed to put weight on it, but quickly gave up, whimpering once more.

Ash wasn't going to give up, though. He was now determined to make sure this girl was okay. "Now watch this," said, holding up his hands close to her knee. He started wiggling them around in some kind of weird performance.

"Feel better, feel better," he started, voice light as he was sure to be cheerful for the upset girl. He then held up his hands in victory and shouted, "Right away!"

She stared at him for a moment, and then tried to put weight on her leg again, before whimpering once more. "It still hurts, I can't stand up," she whined, staring wide eyed as he quickly stood up himself.

Ash again felt the determination to make sure this girl was okay, and he wanted to show her that she should have that determination as well. He held his hand up and smiled.

"Never give up till it's over, 'kay?" He slowly reached out his hand to her, and looked her in the eyes. "Come on!" he encouraged. She stared at him in shock again, and then reached hand to his, as though not even realizing it. When he felt her hand in his, Ash quickly tightened his grip, and then pulled up with all his strength. He accidentally pulled a little hard, and the girl came up so fast, that she fell forward. Ash quickly put his arm around her to make sure she didn't fall again, and felt her clutching onto his shoulder in fear. After a moment, though, she leaned back and stared at him, a blush coming to her cheeks.

"There you go!" Ash said excitedly, giving her a wide grin and chuckling. He realized they were still holding hands, but ignored that and took his arm that had been wrapped around her and pointed back to the direction they had come from. "I think we should be back to the campsite. 'Kay? Come on." He slowly started to walk away, careful to ensure that the girl was following. The whole way back, their hands were held between them.

* * *

Serena pulled an old handkerchief from her bag and showed it to the group who was now staring her wide eyed.

"Don't tell me that it's the same handkerchief from that day" Clemont exclaimed quite loudly. Serena giggled to his reaction before nodding in approval.

"Wow that's so cute" Bonnie squealed taking a better look of Serena's treasured piece of cloth. Serena blushed to the compliment and gave her a sweet smile before turning to Ash who was staring at her dumb folded. Serena's heart sank off his reaction. Does that mean that he still hasn't remember yet? She dropped her gaze as sorrow was about to take her over. But then she heard something.

"You're the girl with the Straw hat?" It was Ash. He was now wearing a broad grin and was pointing to her. Serena's eyes widened off the statement. She was so happy that she wanted to leap and crush him in a big hug but she played it smart and controlled her urge.

"Yeah, that's me" she confirmed before stretching the handkerchief towards him.

"Here, it's yours. You see I wanted to give it back to you at the gym itself but I couldn't group the courage to."

"You've come all this way to just return it to me?"

"Not just that" she got up from her place to take a few steps and then turning back to him, "You see, ever since that day I always wanted to see you again" she paused again, "And when I saw you on the News I knew it was you and I knew that I had to find you but I never thought that you wouldn't even remember me" she said while puffing her cheeks to show her disapproval.

"Now I'm feeling bad about not remembering about you in the first place." He bashfully rubbed the back of his neck.

"He must be really important to you if you've taken such a good care of his handkerchief for such a long time." Bonnie nudged the older girl playfully as the latter blushed to the shade of tomato berry. She turned around to see the raven haired trainer who was still staring at the handkerchief with amusement.

The rest of the morning passed rather quickly. Everyone went to the battle field after the breakfast where Ash and Clemont had a mock battle. Serena accompanied Bonnie at the side lines, who was giving her the knowing look every once in a while.

Serena however enjoyed every second of the time she spent with the group, despite Bonnie's constant teasing. But then the reality stuck her. She knew the time to leave was approaching and she had not asked him if she could join them. Actually she knew she couldn't, not after Ash disapproving a gym leader's request to follow him. And she even had a valid reason to follow him, while she just wanted to be with him. She didn't realize but she wasn't gone unnoticed by everyone.

* * *

And then the time finally arrived. The time when she had to bid her farewell to Ash. She didn't even know if she was going to see him ever again. Yet she couldn't do anything. She was standing in front of the newly formed group with her head held down.

"I guess this is it" She said while lifting her head to see the others. Bonnie was visually sad and she knew that Clemont was too but what was surprising was the attitude of Ash. He was smiling at her brightly.

"See you soon. Please take care of yourself" Bonnie said as she bid her newly formed friend a good bye. Serena returned her biddings and assured that she would. Clemont did the same and then it was time for her to bid her childhood sweetheart a final good bye. She was about to say when Ash interrupted her.

"Where are you heading now Serena?" he asked quite seriously not smiling anymore. Serena wasn't sure for herself. She had just that she would meet Ash and then accompany him on his journey but clearly it wasn't possible now so she had no idea.

"I don't know Ash" she paused to stare her feet for a moment, "I think I'll just head back home" There was no need to tell that she wanted to join them but he had no idea why in the world she wasn't telling them so.

"If that's the case." He made his way towards her, "Why don't you come with us"

Serena couldn't believe what she had heard. She quickly shot her head up to look at the raven haired trainer in instincts with wide eyes. Ash had actually asked her to join him. What does that supposed to mean? After disapproving a gym leader, he was asking her himself. Does that mean…. She was pulled out of her thoughts the next moment itself.

"We can help you find a dream that you can cherish and maybe work together to fulfil it."

"Yay! Say yes Serena, please." Bonnie squeaked out as she ran to the older girl and grabbed her hand.

"But I thought you were no good around girls. That's what you told Viola" Clemont asked. He didn't know why Ash was doing it. He himself wasn't that comfortable around girls except for Bonnie. Serena was feeling like killing him at the moment. Who was he supposed to be to say something like that?

"It's alright Clemont. After what she'd done, I feel like I owe her a big time." Ash explained his reason to the aspiring scientist. That actually made sense to Clemont and he nodded in approval.

But Serena felt like crying. So this is why he'd asked her to join them. Because he feels like he's in debt of her. She felt like slapping herself for gathering all that false hope. But she would still get to be with him, at least. She knew she had to accept the offer but now she didn't know if she was excited about it at all. She gathered herself up before pulling on a huge smile on her face.

"Sure. How can I say no to all that"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note : First of all, thanks a lot for your support so far. Thanks for those who have reviewed so far(Getting some guest reviews lately and all of them had asked for Cynthia. So yeah guys I'll do something for you too but it wont be anytime soon). We're almost 100 followers and to tell you guys the truth, the story hasnt even started properly.**_

 _ **Second, I would like to apologise for the rather late upload. The point is I couldnt cause I wasnt well, yet again. (This time the docs says that its quite serious and I laughed on his face xD lol)**_

 _ **Anyways let me know how you felt about my way of the epic reunion. Full of Amour aye? I really hope you guys like it. I want you guys to know that I wont be able to update anytime sooner than 10 days. So till that peace out. Feel free to ask me any questions, I would try my best to answer you. Till next time Peace out :D**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10**_ _ **: "Support"**_

 _ **Disclaimer**_ _ **: "Like I always say, I do not own Pokemon"**_

The group was making their way past a forest, which would lead them to the Lumiose City; where they planned to visit Professor Sycamore before Ash would challenge his second gym at the Cyllage City gym. It was the same forest where Ash found someone too. It was a Pokémon that was now the newest member of the family. It was Hawlucha.

The group had found the fighting bird Pokémon, helping some other Pokémon. He gained the raven haired trainer's attention right away. He had that same vibe that the latter wore when he was helping someone. Caring for someone other than himself was just the part of the reason why the young trainer couldn't let him go. He possessed that passion. That will to become stronger. But these too weren't the only reason. He knew the true meaning of becoming strong. That was the true reason, why Ash couldn't let him go. After Ash had helped the Wresting Pokémon to defeat a group of forest thugs and perfecting his finishing move; Ash offered him to accompany him on his journey to be the strongest which was gladly accepted by the latter.

The group was currently divided into two subs, one had Ash and Clemont who were busy talking about the newly captured wrestling bird, while the other contained an oddly calm Bonnie and a lost in her thoughts Serena. Bonnie had both of her hands behind her head and her eyes were fixed on the former.

"I feel like I owe her" Serena shook her head to try and shake those words off her mind, but no matter how hard she tried; she just couldn't. She didn't know what was up with her; she should've been feeling the luckiest person in the world but what she really felt was the exact opposite of it.

She's been acting off from the very moment she had joined the group. Somehow it didn't feel like she was happy and it didn't go unnoticed by anyone, including Ash too. He had thought that she would love to travel with them but the way she acted, suggested the otherwise. Ash did ask her if she wanted to reconsider her decision, but she assured him that she didn't need to.

"Hey Serena? Are you alright?" asked the younger girl which dragged her out of her thoughts and to tell the truth, she was more than happy she did.

"Yeah I'm fine" She assured with a bright smile and a tilted head but the latter didn't seem to buy it.

"You don't look fine" Serena flinched off the suspicious vibe. That little girl is way too smart for her age. She sighed in exasperation.

"I am, seriously. I was just thinking about something." She told her the truth in fact as that was precisely she was doing but maybe overdoing it.

"Thinking about something that Ash said?" Bonnie asked in such a mature manner that the latter couldn't believe. It was obvious that the question was not to tease her as it had that serious vibe enveloped around it.

Serena was awestruck. How could she'd possibly known? Her maturity was now starting to creep Serena out. She sighed in defeat. She knew she couldn't just make up any story as there was a very slim chance of her buying it.

"Yeah" she paused for a moment to look at the said person, before holding her head down. "Something like that" she admitted.

Bonnie gave a victorious smirk before giving an exasperated sigh, as if she was saying that 'you're hopeless'. Serena couldn't help but blush off the younger girl's reaction.

"What is it about actually? As far as I can remember, he didn't say anything that would keep you off like that in front of us. Was it something from the other night?" She asked while gazing her through the corner of her eyes.

Serena stayed silent, however. She couldn't just tell what was really bothering her. That would be just like admitting her crush to the little girl. And from what she had got to know about her, she wouldn't take another second to put the two and two, together. But then an Idea struck her mind.

"Yeah it was from the other night." She paused to look that the little girl had turned to look right into her eyes as if she was speculating. "You see when Ash was carrying me back to safety; he asked me something and that question is still bugging me from the inside." Bonnie raised her eyebrow as if she was saying "what is it?"

"He asked me about my dream and to tell you the truth, I had never ever laid a thought about it. Not even once. And now that I think about it, I couldn't help but feel as I have no idea what's going on anymore." Bonnie could tell that she wasn't lying from the looks of her face and she wasn't either. She had not lied to her. She had told what the problem was, granted that it was just a part of it.

Bonnie knew she was sad and was about to try and cheer her up when someone beat her in that.

"Still thinking about it huh?" Serena jumped off the sudden addition in the conversation and she didn't have to look to find who it was as it was Ash indeed. He had dropped his pace to walk beside her to talk to her face. Serena didn't know how to respond, so she just did a gloomy nod.

"Hey, didn't I tell you not to worry about it?" he tried to convey in the softest manner, he possibly could. Serena raised her gaze to look at the raven haired trainer to his face with a faint smile.

"I know Ash. But still…" she trailed off the sentence to return her head to the previous position.

"Don't worry Serena, we'll help you with it" Serena turned her head to look at the blonde girl who was now holding her hand with her both.

"Yeah you bet" This time it was Ash. She raised her head with a thank you printed on her face and a grateful smile.

"That's what friends do" It was Clemont this time as the young inventor gave the honey blond girl a big thumbs up. Serena couldn't help but feel better. Maybe that was not the reason why she was off but still it did help to brighten her mood as she gave them a grateful nod. With that Ash went on ahead to take his place next to Clemont. Bonnie noticed the sudden change of expression on the future performer's face. Her smile was replaced by a frown, yet again. Serena sighed before turning to look at the young girl walking beside her and when she did, she gulped of fear as she wore a devilish smirk. Before Serena could speculate anything, the young girl increased her pace to catch up with the two boys.

Serena raised her eyebrow when Bonnie tugged on Ash's left hand who blinked off the sudden action. Ash sweat dropped to see Bonnie wearing her best puppy dog eyes and a huge grin.

"Uh what is it Bonnie?" He had no idea what the little girl was trying to do and neither did Serena as she watched her nervously. She didn't know why but she was getting a bad feeling about that.

"Ash. Serena told me that you piggybacked her to the Pokémon Centre that night." She tried to sound as innocent as she could which wasn't too hard for someone, her age.

Ash took a slight look at the referred girl who was now blushing like crazy before nodding his head in approval. "Yeah that's right. She wasn't able to walk so I had to do it." He admitted calmly, still having no Idea what she was trying to convey.

"Well I want a ride too" She whined pulling his hand with all her might. "Please" She squealed with stars twinkling in her eyes. The latter couldn't help but chuckle off her antics. Clemont protested, saying that there was no need for that as she could walk herself, earning a pout and huff from his younger sister.

Ash however had no problem with her demand and was already adjusting his bag to his chest side before leaning down so that she could mount his back. Bonnie chirped a big 'yay' before making herself comfortable on his back, giggling heartedly. Clemont gave Ash a look of apology getting a warm smile from the latter.

Ash was now leading the group with Bonnie riding on his back while Clemont had decreased his pace to walking alongside Serena, who was watching the adorable scene with a small smile on her face. She didn't know if it was to tease her or to simply help her getting through that uneasy feeling but whatever the reason was; it sure was helping her. Though she concluded that it was the later one. After all, that girl was way too smart for her age.

The rest of the walk was filled with the sound of a giggling Bonnie and some excited squeals every now and then, whenever she spotted some wild Pokémon. Though she had fallen asleep right before the group was about to reach the Lumiose City. There was no way that someone wouldn't have find that scene to be adorable. A boy carrying a little girl who had that faint smile on her face while she would've been in the middle of some pleasant dream.

* * *

Soon the group had reached the city and now was resting at the Pokémon centre. Ash had laid Bonnie on some sofa and was currently sitting next to her while Clemont had went to get a room for the group. Serena however was busy browsing some computer. After making sure that Bonnie was comfortable, Ash made his way to the honey blonde.

Serena had realized that Ash was approaching her so she didn't panic when the latter stopped next to her before leaning to find what she was working on. It was some sort of video. It had some girl with her Fennekin. They were dancing and using some attacks in combination to produce some flashy moves. Ash realized that it was something like the contests but it was more like a performance.

"It's something called a Poke vision video" Serena informed the raven haired trainer. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked without blinking for even once.

"It sure is" he was impressed. Maybe he hadn't seen a Poke vision or whatever it was called before, but it was clear that the girl in the video knew what she was doing. It didn't seem like she was an amateur.

"What exactly is it though?" Serena stopped watching the video before turning her attention towards Ash. She hadn't realized that he was that close to her before she had turned to face him. But the moment she did, she jumped off her place in panic. Ash backed off the moment he realized that, himself but still he find it rather dramatic to act that surprised but blinked it off.

"Oops Sorry" she apologized the next moment while looking totally embarrassed but the latter assured her that it was nothing. Calming down a bit, she took her previous place on the seat next to the computer while facing towards him. She placed a finger on her chin as if she was giving some thought to what she had to say.

"Let's see. It's a video that a Pokémon trainer can make with their Pokémon. They actually have to narrate about their bond or just do the things they like to do while looking as good as possible." She didn't know if she had explained it right but by the looks on Ash's face, he seemed to have got what it was all about.

"The girl you just saw is Aria. She's the best when it comes to make Poke visions." And Ash was right. He knew that girl couldn't have been an amateur but to think that she was the very best in that was something else. But her little performance justified the statement.

Ash could tell that she really liked that Poke vision stuff. He could tell that off the excitement he felt in her words while talking about it. Just similar to him when he was talking about some battle. It was the first time for him to see her like that and he was really glad to see her like that. Then he got an Idea.

"Hey Serena… Why don't you make one?" he proposed while showing great enthusiasm. Serena however wasn't so sure about the idea. She hadn't ever done something like that. She wasn't sure if she would be able to do it without embarrassing herself.

"Um… I'm not sure Ash. I don't think I would be able to do something like that." It was obvious that she wasn't too comfortable about the whole idea. Ash knew what the problem was and it had nothing to do with if she would be able to do it or not. She lacked confidence. But still he couldn't help but wonder, what was holding her back? Whatever the reason was, he knew had to try and make her do it. Maybe it wouldn't do her any good but he knew one thing. It would sure help her think better of herself.

"But why? I mean, you said you just have to look good and I don't think that's going to be a problem with you" he assured her while giving a thrusting his fist to show his confidence in her. Serena was now staring him with her eyes wide open. She was sure someone would have confused her with a tomato berry if they had seen her face at that moment.

'What was that supposed to mean?' she couldn't help but wonder if Ash had just admitted to her that she looked good. She was dragged right from her trance by a squeak from the electric mouse Pokémon, from the latter's shoulder.

"Y-You think so?" she had held her head down and wasn't aware that she had just whispered the last sentence, maybe off the nervousness but it was loud enough for Ash to hear. Ash placed a warm assuring smile on his face which the latter caught the moment she had raised her gaze. She couldn't help but feel good. That smile was too infectious and it didn't take another moment for Serena to reciprocate it with her own, before nodding in agreement.

"Alright I'll do it" she chirped with the new found excitement, earning a pleased nod from her secret crush.

"We'll help you too" it was Clemont and Bonnie. Serena wasn't sure if they were listening to them the whole time or they had just arrived but she didn't care. She was glad that she had friends that were willing to stay by her side in whatever she did. She felt like, she was blessed with their friendship after having almost no friends for the most of her childhood.

"Thank you guys" she said gratefully.

"So what are we going to need?" Ash asked while looking ready to go the next moment, earning a small chuckle from the honey blonde trainer.

* * *

"Ta~da" Serena squealed while showing her little Fenekkin cosplay costume. She had prepared her outfit to look as her partner herself and according to Clemont and Bonnie, she looked absolutely adorable. She didn't get any praise from the man himself but could've swore that she did catch him staring at her. Overjoyed by that fact, she was more than ready to get going.

Ash had taken his role behind the camera which they had rented for the day, while Bonnie was directing the whole thing. It took a whole day for the team to complete their shooting. Mostly because of the little incident that took place with one of Clemont's invention. But at the end of the day, they were pretty pleased with what they were able to do. All they needed to do now was to hand the tape to the professional editors so that they could add sound and further effects to the video.

* * *

The next day, they had received the finished tape from the editors and according to them it had come out to be really impressive. Everyone, including Ash was really ecstatic to take a look. Everyone but Serena. She was excited too, yes, but she couldn't help but be a little nervous. She had never done anything like this before and though the editors assured that it came out good, she still wasn't too sure about herself.

Finely it was time to face the truth. She inserted the CD and took her place next to Bonnie to see what they'd succeeded to do. She could feel her heart rate increasing as the countdown begun.

The video started.

Serena and Fennekin were on the screen, both having a huge grin on their faces while waving to the camera. "Hi this is Serena" Serena's voice narrated. Serena blushed at her voice being played back to her. "And this is my partner and best friend Fennekin" the fox Pokémon cried at her name.

The scene switched to a shot of Serena, Fennekin and Pikachu trying to work in the kitchen. Serena had held some whipped cream while Pikachu was handing her some flour. Serena gave a hearted smile as she thanked the two Pokémon for their help, earning a happy chorus of cries. "We love making sweet treats and even more so eating them." Serena glanced to her side to see that everyone was paying their full attention to the video. She was more than delighted to see the smiles on their faces. It wasn't long till she realized that she too was smiling. Maybe it actually worked out.

The scene then switched again, now containing just Fennekin and the honey blonde trainer. They were both dressed up with some ribbons and had that cute vibe around them. The expressions on their faces suggested exactly how much fun they were having at that moment.

"We also love to dress up and look our best" Ash smiled to that. It was very true indeed. From what he had seen, it was obvious that they both were alike at that point. Both Fennekin and Serena. He had always find himself smiling whenever Serena was combing the fox Pokémon's fur. He always admired that kind of bond between a trainer and their Pokémon. Just like him and his buddy.

The next few scenes surprised everyone but the honey blonde trainer. The first scene had Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu was at his regular position while Ash was wiping some sweat from the electric mouse Pokémon's face, who in return squealed while nuzzling his trainer's cheek earning a small chuckle from him.

The next scene contained Clemont working on some invention while Bonnie giving her brother a hand. "I'm currently on a journey with my friends Ash, Clemont and Bonnie" Serena's voice narrated as he watched on in surprise. Bonnie however had stars in her eyes and she squealed in order to show her excitement.

"They always help me, with everything" The next scene showed Ash with a Camera and Clemont with some lights, while Bonnie with a book in her hand which was supposed to be the script of the whole shoot and apparently by the looks on her face, this part was way off that. Then the screen showed Serena cuddling her Fennekin with a beautiful smile placed on her face and her eyes closed in comfort. "And I'm so happy that I have them all with me"

"If you see us around, please stop and say hi" The video ended with Serena and Fennekin waving to the camera. Serena wasn't sure what to expect of her fellow companions. She watched them nervously as the room was lighted. She didn't have to see them to know that they were very pleased off the video as they had already started clapping while Bonnie was jumping up and down off the excitement.

"That was sooo cool" Bonnie squealed while clasping her hands together with stars twinkling in her eyes. Serena was relieved that at least she was able to impress the little girl. Clemont didn't hesitate for another moment to praise her himself and Serena thanked both of them the next moment gratefully. She then turned her attention towards the Raven haired trainer to find that he was smirking while wearing that 'I told you' expression.

"See… I told you that it wouldn't be a problem with you" Ash verbed his expression the very next moment. Serena blushed a light shade of pink before nodding in admittance.

"Fen~" the fox Pokémon barked from her place, looking as pleased as her trainer. Serena lifted her up and held her right in front of her face with both her hands.

"You think so?" she asked delightedly earning a squeal from the latter.

"It's all thanks to you guys" Serena admitted while addressing the whole group. The others tried to assure that it was all her but then had to give in. Ash however was looking slightly confused, which Serena noticed and she knew very well that what it was about.

"When did you….?" Ash was about to ask something but was interrupted by none other than the honey blonde herself. She turned her attention to him while holding Fennekin close to her chest.

"It wasn't my video. It was ours. So it was only fair that it included you all. After all it was you who convinced and helped me to do it." Ash didn't say anything, rather, he just smiled to her words before giving a slight nod. Serena reciprocated with her more grateful one.

"So now, all that's left is to upload it" Clemont stated which for some reason boosted Bonnie's excitement.

"You're going to upload it, right?" Though Serena looked very pleased. Ash wasn't sure if she really wanted to upload it or not. If not, all this didn't work how it supposed to be.

"Of course I am" Serena replied while punching the air to show her enthusiasm. That was what Ash wanted to see. After all, the reason he made her do it was successful. She wasn't counting herself down anymore. Nor did she looked lost anymore. It just turned out the way he had wished and he was more than happy that it did. Now all he needed to do was to make sure that she remained like that.

* * *

"5,000 views" Serena said in awe. It was just yesterday, when she had uploaded her very first poke vision Video and to see that it was viewed by so many people literally blew her mind.

"Seems like people really liked your video" Clemont said from his position behind her. Finding it hard, himself to believe it though.

"It seems that way" Serena glanced to her left to see Ash leaning towards the screen to take a better view for himself. He looked so pleased for her and she was too happy to see that. She realized that she wasn't blushing, even though he was standing so close to her. Rather, she felt much comfortable than she usually did. Maybe it had actually helped her and in more than one ways.

"That's so great" Bonnie exclaimed from her position before turning her attention towards her elder brother. Clemont realized that she was up to something the moment he saw that smirk on her face. And he was right indeed.

"What is it Bonnie?" Clemont managed to ask her but couldn't hide the nervousness in his words. That managed to gain him the attention of the latter two.

"Clemont, Let's make you a video of your own" Bonnie proposed, while giving her best puppy eyes look.

"But… Why?" Clemont wasn't so sure what she had in mind. Sometimes it was much easier to predict Ash's next move rather than predict what she had in her mind. Ash and Serena weren't so sure about the reason themselves but they did know that it wouldn't hurt.

"It's simple, that way you would be famous and then you would easily find some good girl to look after you" No matter how silly the idea sounded, the enthusiasm in her voice made it sound much genuine. Well for the most of the part.

Clemont sighed in exasperation before giving Bonnie an annoyed look. "Bonnie haven't I told you a million times that I don't need any girl."

"What are you talking about Big brother? I won't be always there to look after you, so it is my moral duty to find you a good wife to do that for me." All three of them sweat dropped to the explanation. Serena couldn't help but wonder, 'from where does she learn such things?' 'Moral duty…' Seriously that girl.

"I don't think that's a bad idea" Ash joined in while giving Clemont a sly smile. "I think Bonnie's right, don't you Serena?" Bonnie chirped up the moment she heard Ash supporting her. Clemont knew that Ash was just messing with him but didn't help him feel some better, in fact it just boosted his embarrassment.

Serena taking the hint joined in herself. "Of course, it's a pretty good Idea" she said while wearing a huge grin on her face.

"Not you too guys" Clemont was too embarrassed at the point to even look them into the eyes. He just let out a sigh before turning to face the opposite side. Ash chuckled off his actions and was joined by everyone, and soon it turned into a hearted laugh.

Serena laughing herself, took a moment to take a look at her newly formed group. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed like this. In her heart, she was pleased that she had find them. It's true that she just wanted to find Ash at first, but now she'd realized that she couldn't have wished for better. Forgetting all her worries and past, she was just happy that she had friends like them.

Turning her attention towards the said trainer, she found him looking at her from the corner of his eyes while laughing heartedly. She couldn't feel any better. Though she was upset about it at first but now she was glad that he had asked her to join them. Even if it was because of the fact that he felt like he was in debt of her.

Now she was sure she had no regrets. She now knew what she had to do. She just had to make these moment with them, the moments of her life and with them by her side, she knew it wouldn't be too hard to. And as far as Ash was concerned, it now didn't matter if he didn't feel the same way as she does, because from now own, she would make sure to make him do that.

All she had to keep in mind, was to never give up!

* * *

 _ **Author's Note**_ _ **:** SO guys here is the tenth chapter. WOW how much time it has been since the last time? Almost two months._ _You guys thought that I was dead right? I bet you did. Well sorry to break it to you BUT I'm not. xD_

 _Well Let me explain before you start hating me. I'd finished the chapter a very long time ago but couldnt upload back then. The reason is 'I was hospitalised'. Alright I'm still at the hospital though. They'd actually let me use my Laptop for a while so I took the time to upload the chapter. Go on, think that I'm lying or just making a lame excuse. But if you're a regular reader (Though I doubt there would be any xD) you could possibly understand because of the previous notes._

 _Anyways, I cant express how happy I really Am. 114 followers already? I never thought it would go this well. I'm so so grateful for all of your support. I want to seriously thank the regular readers for sticking to the story (If there are any, again xD). You guys are awesome!_

 _Have you guys watched the final episode of the anime? Oh My God. Can you believe it guys? They actually did it. Oh I'm out of my words right now. They really did it! Amourshipping's finally canon. And just for you guys to know, that was definately a kiss. Don't give me the Crap that it wasn't. The moment when Serena said, "Ash, You're my goal" I was like What In the hell and then the knowing looks on the faces of the siblings. And then when she said, "I'll return to be a more attractive woman" I was done but the Authors didn't stop._

 _Then She started to leave (I was a little numb to be honest) But then she said "Can I have one last thing" that was the moment I felt something big was coming and then running up to the escalator and fulfulling us Amourshipper's dream, She finally Kissed Ash! The looks on everyone's face was priceless. Especially Ash's._

 _So Guys it's official, I'm 100% sure Serena's going to return in the anime and not just for an episode, that's for sure._

 _Wow that turned out to be one hell of a note xD But I'm way too excited guys. Anyways, let me know if you liked or hated the chapter. Till the next time peace out!_

 _Wait I'm gonna finish it in a different style this time._

 _ **AMOURSHIPPER and PROUD! :3**_


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